The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to expand the city’s automated bus lane enforcement program, approving the installation of up to 50 cameras on DASH buses to catch vehicles illegally blocking bus stops and lanes. The measure passed 13-1.
LADOT plans to start the program on Nov. 1, with the placement of 30 cameras on buses covering downtown DASH routes including A, B, D, E, F and Pico-Union. A second phase will start Jan. 27 with an additional 20 cameras on buses and will expand to routes traveling through Crenshaw, Panorama City/Van Nuys, Watts, and Wilshire Center/Koreatown.
The city will issue warnings for the initial 60 days of the program, with tickets starting Jan. 1. Fines will be $293 and are set in accordance with California law, according to LADOT.
Two cameras will be positioned behind the windshield of each bus, and the city will be partnering with Hayden AI for the installation, operation, management and maintenance of all cameras. The system will use computer vision to identify lane markings and vehicles, detect possible violations and capture the license plate of the vehicle. All potential violations will be reviewed by a city traffic officer before a citation is given.
The expansion follows a 60-day pilot in which LADOT collected data and reported over 2,400 violations along routes and stops in the downtown area. There was an average of four bus lane violations per bus per hour, including vehicles illegally parked at bus stops. Officials say violations contributed to slower boarding and exiting, safety risks and traffic delays.
Following council approval, LADOT can now move forward with a proposed three-year, $3.43 million contract with Hayden AI. The DASH program will build off an existing enforcement program on Metro buses. Metro entered into a contract with the company in 2023 for 100 cameras currently being used on five Metro bus routes.
According to LADOT, the Metro program has sent 281,000 potential violations to the citation-management system between its November 2024 launch and January 2026 and has generated more than $21 million in gross revenue. LADOT has also reported a 7% to 9.8% improvement in speed and reliability on Metro routes 720 and 212.
Although the majority voted in support of the proposal, Councilmember John Lee was the sole vote against it. Lee raised concerns about LADOT’s automated license plate reader policy and the contractors’ ability to access data collected through the program.
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez supported the proposal but still raised broader concerns over how the city will collect and share data. Rodriguez has introduced a separate motion calling for the city to examine data collection and usage across all departments.
According to LADOT, law enforcement agencies requesting citation information collected by the city must obtain a subpoena, and the request must go through the City Attorney’s Office.
The program is authorized under state law through AB 1837, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. The law will extend California’s authorization for public transit agencies to use forward-facing cameras to enforce parking violations at bus stops and in bus-only lanes.
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