If you pull up 511NY.org right now, you can watch live video of traffic on the BQE, the Cross Bronx, any major intersection in Manhattan. No login, no subscription, no cost. The NYC Department of Transportation operates more than 900 cameras across the 五大行政区, and the feeds are just publicly available.
大多数人不会想到去问为什么。答案涉及开放数据法、联邦资金，以及一个令人惊讶的简单计算，即当司机在离开家之前可以看到路上发生的事情时，谁会受益。
开放数据法是主要原因
New York City passed Local Law 11 of 2012, better known as the Open Data Law. It requires every city agency to make its public data available for free online in machine-readable formats. The NYC Department of Transportation is a city agency. The 交通摄像头 feeds are data collected using public resources. Under the law, that data belongs to the public.
这不是可选的或任意的。该法律设立了一项具有执行机制的任务。市长数据分析办公室负责监督合规性，拖延的机构必须为此负责。交通部在 2012 年之前就已经提供了一些摄像头信息，但《开放数据法》正式规定并扩大了这一义务。
New York State has a parallel framework through FOIL, the Freedom of Information Law, which has existed since 1974. FOIL requires government agencies to disclose records upon request, with narrow exceptions for things like ongoing criminal investigations or personal privacy. 交通摄像头 images of public roads don't qualify for any exemption. Before the open data era, a member of the public could technically FOIL footage from a specific camera at a specific time. Open data just makes it automatic and real-time instead of a weeks-long bureaucratic process.
这些相机是用公共资金支付的
NYC DOT 资金的很大一部分来自联邦交通补助金，这些补助金是通过联邦公路管理局的拥堵缓解和空气质量 (CMAQ) 计划以及地面交通计划等计划管理的。联邦交通资金经常附带条件，包括要求用这些资金建造的基础设施服务于公共利益，以及联邦资助的系统生成的数据可供访问。
The logic here is simple: if taxpayers funded the camera, taxpayers should be able to see what it sees. This principle shows up across government. EPA air quality monitors are publicly accessible, USGS stream gauges are publicly accessible, FAA flight data is publicly accessible. 交通摄像头 are an extension of the same idea.
它实际上减少了拥堵
交通部门希望公众观看其摄像头有一个真实的、可衡量的理由：知情的驾驶员可以做出更好的决策，而更好的决策意味着更少的交通流量。
当司机在上班前查看摄像头，发现他们通常走的隧道有两英里的距离时，他们可能会提前出发，走桥，或者选择地铁。这些决定中的每一项都略微减少了对拥挤走廊的需求。从规模来看，对于数十万通勤者来说，这种影响是有意义的。
交通工程师称之为“需求管理”，这意味着通过更好的信息来决定车辆行驶的时间和地点。公共摄像机源是最便宜的需求管理工具之一。该市已经支付了其交通控制中心安装和维护摄像头的费用。公开这些信息几乎不需要任何额外成本，并以自组织通勤行为的形式回报价值。
Google 地图、Waze 和 Apple 地图都采集实时纽约市交通数据，其中一些数据源自相同的 511NY 基础设施。当您在地图上看到红线时，该信号链的一部分会连接回交通部操作的摄像机。
这些摄像头并不像人们想象的那样进行监视
A common assumption is that making 交通摄像头 feeds public would create privacy problems. In practice, the cameras aren't designed to do what people imagine.
NYC DOT 交通摄像头 are positioned to capture vehicle flow at intersections and highway ramps. The field of view is wide-angle and aimed at lanes of traffic, not at individuals on sidewalks or into building windows. The resolution is low by design, because the cameras need to capture whether traffic is moving or stopped rather than identify license plates or faces. Many feeds refresh as still images every few seconds rather than continuous video.
摄像头不会将数据输入任何面部识别系统，与执法数据库集成以进行实时识别，或者将镜头长时间保留在可搜索的档案中。交通部的职责是交通管理而不是监视，摄像头基础设施反映了这一职责。
This is meaningfully different from other camera systems in the city. The NYPD operates its own camera network separately. Red light cameras are a separate program run under a different authority. The DOT's traffic cameras are a distinct system with a distinct purpose, and making them public doesn't compromise their function because their function was never to observe people secretly.
透明度的争论是双向的
还有一种情况是，公共摄像头的访问有助于让交通部承担责任。如果这些信息是公开的，并且在任何使用浏览器的人都可以看到的十字路口上有一个坑洼三个星期没有被填补，那么如果这些信息仅供内部使用，那么这种公共责任形式就不会存在。
Similarly, when an accident closes a road and the DOT's response is slow, anyone can watch 实时 rather than relying solely on what the department reports. Transparency about road conditions is, incidentally, transparency about how well the roads are being managed.
This isn't why the program exists, since it predates the current era of public accountability activism, but it's a reason the program enjoys political staying power. Nobody wants to be the official who closes off the 交通摄像头 from public view and then has to explain why.
你实际看到的
这些信息可通过 511NY.org 获取，这是由 NYSDOT 和 NYC DOT 联合运营的全州旅行信息系统。您可以按行政区、高速公路或社区进行过滤。该站点还聚合了来自 MTA 桥梁和隧道、港务局过境点和国营高速公路的摄像机，因此一个工具可以覆盖城市内外的大部分主要阻塞点。
质量因相机和位置而异。有些提要比其他提要更顺畅。有些交叉路口有多个角度。这不是电影般的体验，但如果您想决定中城隧道是否值得在周五下午尝试，它确实很有用。
NYC OpenData 还将相机元数据（包括位置、ID 和 feed URL）作为可下载的数据集发布，这意味着开发人员可以在同一基础设施上构建自己的应用程序。一些交通应用程序正是这样做的，并且 纽约市实时交通摄像头仪表板 该网站上的内容来自相同的公共提要。
想要直接跳到特定地点吗？浏览我们的 NYC 实时摄像头 guides — including the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, and the FDR Drive , each with a direct link to that live feed.