Using Technology to Make Public Transit Safer
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean of UCLA Luskin, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the possible use of facial recognition technology and fare gates on the LA Metro system following a recent fatal stabbing and other attacks taking place on public transportation. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has asked Metro staff to explore various measures to increase security across the vast citywide system. Loukaitou-Sideris, distinguished professor of urban planning, noted that cities across the country are dealing with crime on public transit and trying to find ways to make transportation safer. Technologies like facial recognition may raise privacy concerns, she said, suggesting that the use of fare gates and Metro transit ambassadors could help. “Transit environments are really very open environments. Everybody can get in and enter, and if you try many of these measures, you put delays into the system,” she said. “The public is not going to like it. So it’s a dilemma.”
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