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Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

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Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#141

Post by hiAndrewQuinn »

ffsm8 wrote: post #129
hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #6

This is a phenomenal application of how fine-based bounties can be used to rapidly improve compliance with the law. Incredible work. I would absolutely use this if I lived in NYC; I'll recommend it to my friends there.

I wish it was was more common around the world. Not just with parking though, but everything in the context of cars. Like letting the police install a permanent speed trap on your property or even pay for the privilege of them doing so. I'd bet that'd curb a lot of speeding in short order

There's no need for violence. In fact, the capital outlay would be inefficient.

If you want to curb speeding, the solution looks much the same: Pay reporters some portion of the fines collected from the speeder. You will very quickly see a cottage industry of Internet connected dashcams and on-board AI solutions spring up, because it's practically free money if you drive safely yourself for long enough. Pretty soon nobody will be speeding, simply because you never know who or what is watching.

This is a set of economic-legal policies I've been writing about here and there for a long time. It's great stuff.

Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#142

Post by gametorch »

hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #141
ffsm8 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish it was was more common around the world. Not just with parking though, but everything in the context of cars. Like letting the police install a permanent speed trap on your property or even pay for the privilege of them doing so. I'd bet that'd curb a lot of speeding in short order

There's no need for violence. In fact, the capital outlay would be inefficient. If you want to curb speeding, the solution looks much the same: Pay reporters some portion of the fines collected from the speeder. You will very quickly see a cottage industry of Internet connected dashcams and on-board AI solutions spring up, because it's practically free money if you drive safely yourself for long enough. Pretty soon n…

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#143

Post by tiagod »

vineyardmike wrote: post #36

Within the last year or so, I discovered my city’s 311 app, which I’ve become addicted to. I don’t drive, so I’m always walking around the neighborhood, and got in the habit of always reporting graffiti, dumping, illegally parked cars, etc. This had inspired me to try and make a few apps for civic use, but I discovered that many of the accessible web tools for my city have rules against bots. For example, the city ma…

You're addicted to being the neighborhood snitch?

Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#144

Post by matsemann »

josephcsible wrote: post #125
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I’d like to see is hard separation of roads and bike lanes. As a cyclist, nothing but a line painted on the road makes me feel unsafe, as a driver it’s difficult to not get nervous when passing a cyclist in the lane, and culturally drivers are generally favored over cyclists which results in things like parking in bike lanes not being adequately enforced. All these things would be solved by bike lanes being full…

> What I’d like to see is hard separation of roads and bike lanes. That's a great idea, as long as the hard separation goes both ways with bikes no longer being allowed in car lanes.

Why? I don't get this "gotcha". Is there any actual rational reason for making such rules, or is it stemming from some annoyance from seeing cyclists in the road?

There already exists roads where cyclists can't be: Highways/motorways. If the problem is cyclists in the road, that solves itself by building better infrastructure. Where there's adequate cycling infrastructure, cyclists prefer to use it. Where there's lacking or none, one should of course be able to use the road. Otherwise it would be a de facto ban on cycling, which I'm sure was your point?

Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#146

Post by crusty »

I'll have to hunt down a link to the piece but I swear I saw a video about a few people in NYC who muddy go around finding idling vehicles and piece together the fine bounties into full time equivalent work. This could really disrupt their industry.

Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#147

Post by pvg »

gametorch wrote: post #139
pvg wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You regularly spam a generic generative ai ‘art’ thing on this site so of all people it feels like you’d have a broader, less kneejerky and more charitable view of what use of the technology is ‘dystopian’

That's a fair point. It's hard to assess whether I'm being honest with myself about that. But I know this app is truly evil in my system of morality. AI art can be very soulless. Very dehumanizing. In certain sense. But those two qualities are undeniably attached to surveillance states. In all senses. There is no argument against that.

It’s someone’s show hn for something that’s NYC law, designed to address a specific local problem. Calling this ‘evil’ is, at a minimum, unserious bombast which the site rules ask you to avoid, especially when discussing someone else’s work. You can critique the work without the Savonarola act. It also happens to be more effective that way so it’s in your own interest.

Re: Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

#150

Post by kennywinker »

9cb14c1ec0 wrote: post #138

Spying on your friends, neighbors, and family? Nothing to see here, just old Soviet style repression tactics.

I understand the sentiment, but if you accept the premise that idling vehicles harm everyone, which they probably do - via air quality, foreign wars to keep oil flowing, and climate change - then why should we not fine the heck out of anybody who harms us all?

Don’t like getting reported by randos with apps? Don’t idle.

My only beef with the law itself, is that the fines need to be income-linked - otherwise it’s only illegal if you’re poor.

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