Las Vegas to Deploy First AI Surveillance System in Public Transit in the U.S.

The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada, including Las Vegas, will deploy an AI camera system to scan and detect weapons in public transportation.

According to CNBC, the new plan has been developed as a strategy to reduce violence and identify potential risks. The AI-linked cameras will scan passengers and will be installed on more than 400 buses.

The RTC is working with the American software company ZeroEyes on this project, part of a $33 million multi-year upgrade program.

“Time is of the essence; it gives us time to identify a firearm being brandished, so [authorities] can be notified and get to the scene and save lives,” Tom Atteberry, RTC’s director of safety and security operations, told CNBC.

According to a report released by the Department of Transportation in October last year, violence on public transportation across the U.S. has been increasing. Citizens’ concerns regarding safety in transit systems have peaked.

In that report, surveillance cameras were suggested. “Many agency representatives reported the use of surveillance cameras in stations, on vehicles, and in other areas (e.g., parking lots), and expressed that this can be particularly useful for maintaining awareness of what is happening on the system and responding to incidents,” states the document.

Brian Miller, the director of Purdue University Northwest, explained that on average it takes 12 minutes for the police to arrive at the location in danger after the first gunshot and trusts the new AI technology to be beneficial. “We have to reduce that, gunshot detectors and weapons scanners, these are all good technologies,” said Miller.

Neither the RTC nor the Purdue University Northwest mentioned any specific cases where AI-powered protection was required, but consider that the risk is imminent.

Stats reveal Las Vegas’s crime rate is not as high as transport systems, but the cameras used are compatible with ZeroEyes technology, and mass shootings have been a major concern since The Strip incident in 2017 where 58 people were killed by Stephen Paddock.