Pittsburgh Parking Authority: "We don't use Flock"
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Pittsburgh parking officials say their enforcement tech shouldn't be conflated with Flock cameras as a crackdown on automated license plate readers (ALPRs) looms.
Why it matters: Jodi Hart, Pittsburgh Parking Authority deputy director, wants to distinguish the authority's ALPRs from Flock cameras as state lawmakers consider tighter regulations, including a potential Flock ban.
- She says PPA's system has more limited programming capabilities than the police surveillance networks driving much of the debate.
How it works: Hart says PPA's AI-assisted technology, supplied by Automotus, WiseSight and SenSen, is used only for parking enforcement. It scans plates in monitored parking and loading zones to detect violations, such as unpaid or expired parking or blocked spaces.
- PPA's systems don't connect to law enforcement networks or create searchable histories of a vehicle's movements. They also don't identify the make, model or color of a vehicle. The tech blurs or masks faces before storing images.
- PPA automatically deletes non-violation data, and violation records are available only to authorized parking staff. Data is deleted after the ticket is resolved.
- Hart says PPA uses 193 smart loading zone cameras, 16 mobile ALPRs and "multiple" cameras across 13 PPA facilities.
The big picture: Flock has become shorthand for ALPRs as privacy concerns grow, but it's one of many systems with varying capabilities, safeguards and data sharing options.
- Allegheny County has more ALPRs than any other county in Pennsylvania, but less than a quarter are Flock, per crowdsourced data on Finding Flock. Hart said crowdsourced data may not capture the full scope of ALPRs or even accurately label them.
- License plate readers have been used across Allegheny County for more than a decade by law enforcement, private security, parking authorities and more.
What they're saying: Hart said digital enforcement helps a limited staff manage thousands of parking spaces.
- Restrictions based on the "ALPR" label alone could make it harder to enforce curb turnover for businesses and protect accessible spaces and transit lanes, Hart said.
Follow the money: In June, PPA reported its camera enforcement continues to boost revenue and the number of mailed tickets; it issued 29,000 tickets and collected $6.9 million in revenue that month, up from roughly 24,000 tickets and $5.7 million the year prior.
- This comes as the city is grappling with a $30–$40 million budget deficit.
The other side: Critics argue the potential for AI errors in parking enforcement — cases where a human might use discretion — warrants caution.
The bottom line: Hart said PPA supports clear limits on investigative use, broad data collection, retention, agency sharing and law enforcement searches — and accountability to its existing privacy safeguards.
- "We are not asking for an exemption from scrutiny," said Hart. "We are asking that parking be regulated as parking. We will provide our vendor privacy documentation, our retention settings, and our access policies to anyone who wants to see them."