SEPTA cameras documented more than 36,000 vehicles blocking bus lanes and stops

SEPTA used windshield-mounted video cameras to record 36,392 instances of illegally parked vehicles blocking Center City bus-only lanes and bus stops in West Philadelphia and Upper Darby during a 70-day trial this spring.

The test documented the need for and feasibility of a permanent camera enforcement program, agency officials said. SEPTA released the results Thursday.

“Based on what we’ve seen, and based on the results that other cities have had, we certainly would recommend implementing a system like this one,” said Matthew Zapson, a SEPTA planning project manager who worked on the project.

No tickets or warnings were issued as a result of the images captured from seven buses on Routes 21 and 42. SEPTA partnered on the study with Hayden AI, a Silicon Valley start-up that has installed its artificial intelligence cameras on buses in several large transit systems, including in New York and Washington.

Buses on those routes, two of SEPTA’s mostly heavily used, average about 8.5 mph during peak travel periods, the agency says.

Routes 21 and 42 navigate congested Center City and West Philadelphia and use bus-only lanes on Chestnut and Walnut Streets — good environment to test the scope of the illegal-parking problem, Zapson said.

SEPTA is in the midst of a comprehensive redesign of its bus network with the goal of improving reliability and shortening travel times, key factors for would-be riders. Blockages of bus lanes and stops are among the challenges the program faces.

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Low speeds and unreliable service “reverberate throughout the system,” Zapson said. “If you are boarding the bus in Delaware County or in West Philadelphia, a set of illegally parked trucks downtown can mean a late bus for you even if you’re not anywhere near them.”

In New York, MTA has reported big increases in travel speed on some routes and a 30% drop in bus crashes on one major route because operators don’t have to swing into the traffic lane to avoid obstacles as often.

Blockages of bus stops endanger passengers who have to step into traffic to board or disembark, SEPTA says; it is a particular problem for wheelchair users and other people with mobility issues.

“This is a problem that has been tolerated for far too long,” Latoya Maddox, a senior independent living specialist for Liberty Resources, said in the SEPTA bus-camera report.

On average, a little more than half the stops on Routes 21 and 42 were blocked at some point during the day, the report said.

The technology captured violations well — at night and during the day and in all kinds of weather, Zapson said. And it was able to distinguish between a stopped and moving vehicle, he said — important because legal right turns are allowed from bus lanes at some intersections.

“You wouldn’t want to ticket those, but a car parked in the bus lane, that’s a problem,” Zapson said. The AI also filtered out permitted vehicles such as first-responders, he said.

The agency believes that only a city ordinance would be required to authorize camera enforcement of parking violations. Using automated enforcement for moving violations in bus zones would require state legislation.

Councilmember Mark Squilla has introduced a bill to allow SEPTA to establish camera enforcement for “parking, standing and stopping violations that interfere with mass transit.” A committee hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

There’s already been some improvement from the pilot, Zapson said: The Philadelphia Parking Authority replaced missing no-parking signs at nine bus stops.