New ‘bus cameras’ in Cork City have captured over thousands of traffic infractions thanks to AI, the council has revealed. 

The 11 week pilot has been hailed as a success by local councillors, who expect the technology will be rolled out more widely nationwide. 

The bus cameras were mounted on certain buses on the 220 route in the city and monitored double yellow parking, bus stop infringements and bus lane infringements. 

 “They found over 7,000 infractions over those 11 weeks,” Labour Councillor Peter Horgan revealed on Moncrieff. 

“[The footage] had to be uploaded in this situation and then gone through by the people at Hayden AI - the company that we used. 

“In this situation, it took a bit of time after to go through the process and each of the 7,000 [infractions].” 

The River Lee in Cork. Picture by: Alamy.com. 

Cllr Horgan added it was a “very labour intensive project to roll out” but the bus cameras had given a “startling insight” into what is causing congestion in Cork City. 

“Double yellow lines are there for a reason,” he continued. 

“People are now becoming blind to double yellow lines and to the yellow box junctions. 

“The amount of junctions in Cork that are being blocked up by people entered but not leaving yellow box junctions… People say, ‘I’ll be just a minute’ - but that ‘just a minute’ is holding up other traffic.” 

Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney has said planning for a nationwide rollout is now at an “advanced stage”.

Main image: A  bus in Cork City. Picture by: Alamy.com.