One of the ways that San Diego has been gathering data on bicycling in the city is through the use of cameras. The cameras are mounted at intersections, next to the stoplights, and are being used to help the city plan for future transportation projects. However, the cameras, purchased in 2014, are not always working as intended. They are supposed to use patented technology to count bicyclists and extend green lights to help bicyclists get through intersections safely. But the footage is telling a different story than the sensors. By looking back at the recorded footage and counting, by hand, how many bicyclists are coming through, city engineers have seen that the hand counts are different from the automated tallies. How different? The engineers would not say. They instead explained that the technology to distinguish between bikes and cars is still evolving and that the company who makes the cameras,…
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