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Taxi-camera approval stalled for three years; drivers and vendor urge GTB and city to resolve code issues
Summary
Ground Transportation Bureau officials told the council that a Janus camera system has not been approved because of code concerns (panic-button placement, on/off switch, storage/retention). The vendor and taxi operators said the system records continuously and that the approval delay (cited as three years) and a single approved vendor have created cost and access problems.
A long-running dispute over taxi-cab camera approval dominated public comment as the City Council GA committee closed its meeting, with the Ground Transportation Bureau (GTB) outlining technical and procedural reasons it has not approved a vendor’s updated camera system and taxi operators urging the city to act.
Erica Jarrow, operations supervisor for the GTB, said the bureau began communicating with the vendor in late 2022 but lacked a permanent administrator during parts of the process and that several technical specifications remain unresolved. Jarrow cited code 162660 and said the GTB asked for an emergency-trigger storage format that preserves 2.5 minutes before and after a trigger in an override-protected format; she also raised concerns that the camera’s panic button and on/off features could be accessible to drivers and thus interfere with recordings.
"If they're not able to press that panic button, it won't record the incident that took place and save it," Jarrow said, describing the risk that incidents could be overwritten.
Peter Parker, representing the vendor, told the committee the system records continuously, can store longer video on upgraded internal storage, and has disabled any on/off functionality that would prevent recording. "Our camera system is recording 24 hours," Parker said. "We could go back 10 days and look at the full video on it." The vendor also said the manufacturer's encryption and an encrypted viewer are used to control access.
Taxi drivers and company representatives disputed the length of the delay and said the city has effectively limited the market to a single approved vendor, raising costs. Jason Coleman, a local cab operator, said official requests for law-department reports found no record and called the three-year delay a barrier to doing business. Kirtan Parmarama, general manager for United Cab, said the approved equipment costs about $1,333 installed and that drivers and small operators bear the financial burden.
Committee members urged GTB and the vendor to meet and resolve the outstanding code and administrative issues; the chair said a direct meeting could likely resolve most items. No final action or new approval occurred in committee during the meeting.
