Artificial intelligence-powered traffic cameras filed nearly 12,000 traffic cases on Dhaka’s Elevated Expressway over the past year, with officials reporting more than 800 additional cases in a single week on city roads as authorities expand automated enforcement across the capital.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police said the AI system automatically detects speeding and other traffic violations, operating day and night to monitor vehicles across some of the city’s busiest corridors. Authorities plan to install another 1,500 cameras after deploying systems at 10 locations, including Bijoy Sarani and Karwan Bazar.
Police said the initial installation cost was 60 lakh taka, or about $55,000, and the network is intended to help regulate traffic among the roughly 2 million vehicles that travel on Dhaka roads daily.
The cameras automatically flag vehicles traveling above 80 kilometers per hour. In one recorded case on April 22, a private car traveling at 114 kilometers per hour on the Elevated Expressway was cited after AI cameras captured and analyzed the violation.
Officials said the system has issued cases against drivers across all sectors, including judges, police personnel and members of the Rapid Action Battalion, reducing opportunities for drivers to avoid penalties through personal influence.
“Because now if you want to make a phone call, you have to call the camera,” one police official said. “That camera won’t answer your phone.”
Traffic and communications experts, however, cautioned that the technology may face challenges in Dhaka’s congested and mixed-traffic environment, where buses, private cars, battery-powered rickshaws and non-motorized vehicles often share the same roads without consistent lane discipline.
Experts warned that unclear license plates or unregistered vehicles could lead to identification errors or uneven enforcement. They said AI systems may struggle in situations where compliant registered vehicles stop in traffic while unidentified vehicles continue moving without detection.
Authorities said the camera network could also assist in reducing vehicle theft while improving compliance with traffic regulations across the capital.