- The New York Department of Transportation has installed 100 roadside sensors across the city to gather data on vehicle, bike, and pedestrian traffic.
It may sound like yet another rollout of a dystopian surveillance state network of facial recognition cameras — but the New York Department of Transportation’s latest initiative has a far more tame goal in mind: tracking modes of transport to improve street design.
According to the Gothamist, the New York Department of Transportation has added 100 roadside sensors across the city in order to pick up data on vehicle, bike, and pedestrian traffic.
The effort is an expansion of a 2023 sensor pilot meant to gather data on city traffic, which saw 20 such devices installed on signposts in various locations. The machine-learning sensors — explained as a tool to help improve pedestrian crossings and bicycle infrastructure — are trained to anonymize faces and license plates, DOT deputy commissioner Eric Beaton told the Gothamist…