The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) Board of Directors has officially approved the installation of a number of artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) safety cameras across 235 SamTrans fixed-route buses.
A new contract will see San Francisco-based Samsara Inc. provide onboard, dual-facing AI dash cameras and cloud-based services that will aim to help identify unsafe driving behaviours, increase operator awareness and support both incident review and training.
Utilising AI technology, the cameras are capable of detecting risky conditions, triggering alerts that seek to help improve driving awareness whilst also capturing video that can be used for in-depth analysis, as well as operator coaching.
SamTrans Acting Deputy Director of Safety Omar Brown said:This technology gives our operators additional tools to stay aware of their surroundings while helping us better understand and prevent incidents.
Improving safety for our riders, employees and everyone sharing the roadway remains a top priority for SamTrans.
Under the agreement, Samsara will provide hardware, software, installation, training and cloud-based video services for the buses over the course of a three-year base term contract, which is not to exceed 240,000 USD. An option for up to three additional one-year extensions totalling 240,000 USD will remain.
The annual subscription cost for the service has been estimated at roughly 79,000 USD, with a one-off shipping cost of 2,000 USD during the first year. Funding for the project has been included in the SamTrans’ Fiscal Year 2026 and 2027 operating budgets and will be incorporated into future operating budgets.
Samsara was chosen following a competitive cooperative procurement process, which ultimately determined that Samsara provided the best value based on pricing, features and managed services.
