Kitchener bylaw is using AI-powered cameras that understand parking rules

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a key role in Kitchener bylaw's new plan to help curb parking violations.

Using several high-resolution cameras mounted to the top of a bylaw-branded vehicle, the AI technology can automatically identify a parking infraction, snap some pictures and send the evidence to a bylaw officer for review.

Over the past year, Kitchener has introduced two of these vehicles. What started as a school-zone-specific pilot project has since expanded to city-owned lots and other restricted parking areas.

Ian Misheal, manager of bylaw enforcement for the City of Kitchener, said the program was initially brought in to help with violations in no-stopping areas near schools.

"These areas were very difficult to enforce traditionally, so we were looking for a tool to help us."

AI parking patrol

What makes the system a better tool is its automation, said Misheal. The vehicle-mounted cameras don't just take pictures, they also interpret them using artificial intelligence.

Misheal explained that the program starts by identifying what part of the city it's in.

"The officer simply goes into an area and the system knows what the parking rules are," he said, adding that the program "can recognize signage and it's accurate down to about a centimetre."

The program also identifies other important information, like make, model and colour of the vehicle involved.

When an infraction is detected, the system alerts the officer, who reviews the images and decides whether or not to issue a ticket. If the evidence is there, the ticket is mailed to the vehicle's owner.

The city recently got approval to take the technology outside of school zones. The vehicles now patrol city-owned "pay-by-plate" parking lots and other restricted areas.

Misheal said the program simply "scans plates and alerts the officer when a vehicle hasn't paid."

While the AI takes multiple images in school zones and other areas where stopping is restricted, it performs simpler scans in parking lots, not storing unnecessary data.

Privacy concerns

Misheal said the city and bylaw enforcement are taking the possible privacy concerns "very seriously."

"Any people that are captured in photos are automatically blurred by the system," he said. "Not even the officer reviewing the evidence can see photos of persons."

Misheal said that includes images that result in infractions.

Any photos not tied to an infraction are automatically deleted within 24 hours, Misheal said, adding that when a ticket is resolved, any ownership information is purged from the system.

The city says the goal isn't to punish drivers, but to make streets safer.

"The system doesn't activate unless there's an infraction present," said Misheal. 

"The purpose of it is to curb negative behaviour by drivers, creating safer communities for us," he said. "Especially in school-zone areas."

Misheal said Kitchener's is the first bylaw enforcement service to use this tool.