
Mystery Surrounds Metal Towers Popping Up in Tunnels and Bridges - yclept
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/09/27/mysterious-metal-towers/
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BrandonMarc
License plate scanning? Facial recognition? Cell phone tracking? Chemical /
radiological sniffing?

Sure is odd to have a very public piece of infrastructure get erected over and
over and yet not get an explanation about what it is.

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StLCylone
License plate scanning = most likely, Facial recognition = probably not, Cell
phone tracking = not necessary, Chemical / radiological sniffing = possible

~~~
King-Aaron
To expand on your answer, judging by the IR led's in the 'floodlight'
arrangements on top, I'd say 100% that they're scanning plates, and it's
highly likely they're doing face scans too(i.e.
[http://iomniscient.com/](http://iomniscient.com/)) and other imaging.. For
instance in Australia they sometimes check for people not wearing seat belts
with similar camera arrangements. I'd also bet that they take speed readings.

They likely house a level of chemical-sniffing technology too, like police
cars can be equipped with
([http://www.inficon.com/](http://www.inficon.com/)). These sniffers would
likely be actively looking at emission levels etc (being near tunnels would
provide a reason for that), however can also detect explosives etc.

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tobtoh
> For instance in Australia they sometimes check for people not wearing seat
> belts with similar camera arrangements.

I live/drive in Australia and I've never heard of such a thing - neither
location or anyone fined by this method. Do you have an example location where
this is in place? Or an article describing it?

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King-Aaron
Yeah as the comment below notes, I should have been clearer. They manually
check, however I can't see it as too much of a stretch that an operator might
check the feeds every now and then for such a thing. I know in the Northbridge
Tunnel (Perth) they don't send fines for speeding infringements, yet if you
are seen driving dangerously through the tunnel they'll get you for everything
they can positively identify as illegal if they want to follow you up - i.e.
in the event of an accident etc.

Source: My brother is an officer and have discussed with him about what they
do and don't monitor.

Edit: old article link as the other commenter seems to have removed theirs
[http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-
police...](http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-police-to-
look-at-using-hightech-traffic-cameras-to-nab-drivers-who-illegally-use-
mobile-phones/news-
story/60df4aa22e0f21f7989c4d5551dae314?nk=d8174680a70aa9597fbaac3ff35bfa3c-1506574044)

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burntrelish1273
It's probably worth journalists / private citizens following-up with FOIA
request(s).

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aaron695
I like the conspiracy theory they have nothing into them and it's a cover up
for an art project.

[http://gothamist.com/2017/09/26/towers_mta_gateway_cuomo.php](http://gothamist.com/2017/09/26/towers_mta_gateway_cuomo.php)

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kbart
Wow, they look straight from some dystopian sci-fi movie. All it's missing are
few turrets on top.

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brador
The video game "Homefront: The Revolution" is the closest interactive
experience of this situation.

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_wmd
flagged due to autoplay and really utterly offensively crap journalism

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numbsafari
A new season of "Person of Interest"?

