On Tuesday, the City of Oakland launched Aerbits, an innovative new program that deploys AI-assisted aerial imaging technology to proactively detect and report abandoned trash on streets and sidewalks \u2013 to support timely and effective removal of illegal dumping.<\/p>\n
By shifting from a reactive, complaint-based system to data-driven proactive detection, the City can deploy cleanup resources faster, more efficiently, and more equitably to the areas in greatest need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Approved by both the Privacy Advisory Commission and the Oakland City Council, Aerbits<\/a> is the latest addition to Oakland\u2019s comprehensive strategy to eliminate illegal dumping from the Town.<\/p>\n \u201cOakland residents and businesses deserve clean streets and today we are one step closer to a safer, cleaner, and greener Oakland,\u201d said Mayor Barbara Lee. \u201cOur strategy strengthens eradication, education, and enforcement efforts across every neighborhood. <\/p>\n \u201cAerbits, which was approved by the Privacy Advisory Commission, uses modern technology and best practices to help our crews clear trash faster\u00a0and more efficiently, while our targeted outreach and enforcement strategies address the root causes of dumping. Together, we are going to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n The impacts of illegal dumping on Oakland are profound, disproportionately burdening historically disinvested communities while threatening public health, safety, and economic vitality. <\/p>\n The City is united in taking action to remedy it \u2013 with the mayor, Council, administration, Public Works Department, community groups and more coming together to make change. <\/p>\n In May, the City Council approved the Illegal Dumping Expenditures Action Plan<\/a>, which approves and funds multiple actions \u2013 including Aerbits \u2013 to help remedy illegal dumping. <\/p>\n This past June, Oakland secured $9.2 million from the Crankstart<\/a> Foundation to scale up operations like Aerbits and break the cycle of illegal dumping across Oakland.<\/p>\n The Aerbits aerial imaging system photographs public rights-of-way to pinpoint exact locations, estimate waste volumes, and classify types of debris. This enables City dispatchers to understand the problem and efficiently deploy the appropriate crew and equipment to each site. <\/p>\n Built with privacy at its core, the technology contains no facial recognition, no license plate readers, and uses no personally identifying information. Aerbits takes pictures of trash \u2013 not of people.<\/p>\n \u201cI founded Aerbits because I saw a major gap in the data that was available to City crews on the streets, and I wanted our children to have a cleaner environment\u201d said Aerbits Founder Brian Johnson.<\/p>\n \u201cAerbits enables cleanups to be timelier, more effective, and more equitable. By providing real-time comprehensive data, automating the creation of work orders, and improving closure of cleared tickets, we are removing the problems that occur when relying primarily on a complaint-based system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Aerbits is the latest milestone in the series of actions the City is taking to implement the City Council-approved Illegal Dumping Expenditures Action Plan<\/a>. Recent actions taken by the City include:<\/p>\n Stricter Enforcement: Enacted a new Illegal Dumping Enforcement Ordinance<\/a> increasing penalties and holding vehicle owners responsible; hired additional Environmental Enforcement Officers equipped with updated citation technology; and worked alongside State Senator Jesse Arreguin on legislation that allows the City to boot vehicles tied to repeat dumping offences.\u00a0 Rebecca Kaplan is a former City Councilmember-at-large for the City of Oakland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Rebecca Kaplan Special to The Post On Tuesday, the City of Oakland launched Aerbits, an innovative new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[117027,184,185513,185514,185515,41921,38314,93,123539,185516,9400,185517,185518,143,145,160621,144,63810,185519,185520,111112],"class_list":["post-471659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-arts-and-crafts","tag-bay-area","tag-black-owned-bookstore","tag-bookout-block-party","tag-childrens-literacy","tag-community-events","tag-family-activities","tag-featured","tag-free-books","tag-literacy-arts","tag-live-music","tag-marcus-books","tag-mlk-blvd","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-mayor-barbara-lee","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-public-schools","tag-reading-events","tag-storyland-collective","tag-youth-programs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCommunity Resources: Reinstated the popular \u201cBulky Block Parties<\/a>\u201d offering residents free, convenient ways to get rid of bulky waste, alongside expanded public education campaigns.\u00a0\u00a0
\nExpanded Fleet Equipment: Obtained new heavy-duty Lightning Loader <\/a>trucks that allow us to clean up more volumes of debris faster than ever before.\u00a0<\/p>\n