The Proposal
On March 24, 2026, the Oakland Public Works and Transportation Committee heard a resolution to authorize a pilot program with Aerbits Inc. to strengthen the city's illegal dumping remediation efforts. The proposal, brought forward by the Oakland Public Works Department, outlines a six-month program of systematic aerial monitoring using AI-powered drone technology.
The pilot would cover targeted areas across Oakland with 72 scheduled drone flights, surveying approximately 1,440 linear road miles. The program is structured around three milestone payments, funded through the city's Comprehensive Clean-Up Fund (Fund 1720) — requiring no general fund dollars.
Why Oakland Needs This
Oakland faces one of the most significant illegal dumping challenges of any city in California. The city's Public Works Department spends over $24 million annually addressing illegal dumping — encompassing cleanup operations, enforcement, and community engagement programs. Despite this investment, the problem persists.
Data obtained under SB 1218 reporting requirements reveals the scale of the challenge: Oakland received approximately 25,000 illegal dumping calls, resulting in only 270 citations — a 1.1% citation rate. Of the $228,000 in fines assessed, just $21,500 was actually collected. Nearly 190 cases remain unresolved.
The gap between complaint volume and enforcement action highlights a systemic issue: without consistent, city-wide monitoring, dumping sites accumulate faster than they can be addressed through complaint-driven workflows alone.
How It Works
The Aerbits system uses enterprise drones equipped with high-resolution cameras to fly systematic routes over target areas. A custom-trained AI model analyzes the captured imagery to identify illegal dumping, including mattresses, furniture, tires, appliances, construction debris, and bulk waste.
Each detection is geotagged with precise GPS coordinates, photographed with timestamped documentation, and scored for severity. The system then integrates directly with Oakland's 311 reporting infrastructure to generate work orders automatically — eliminating the manual reporting bottleneck that has limited the city's ability to stay ahead of the problem.
Follow-up flights provide verification that cleanup has occurred, enabling the city to close work orders with photographic proof rather than requiring field verification trips.
Proven Results in San Francisco
The technology behind the Oakland proposal has already been validated in a pilot conducted in San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, in partnership with the Bayview Hill Neighborhood Association (BHNA).
Over the course of that pilot, active dumpsites in the target area dropped from 118 to just 7 — a 94% reduction in 26 days. When flights were paused for two weeks, dumping returned to 73 active sites. When monitoring resumed, the count dropped again to 5.
The pattern demonstrated a clear principle: consistent monitoring and reporting drives consistent cleanup. The technology doesn't replace city services — it ensures every dumpsite is seen, documented, and reported, so existing cleanup crews can be deployed where they're needed most.
Privacy and Oversight
The proposal includes a comprehensive Surveillance Impact Report and an 11-section Use Policy that governs how the technology is deployed. Oakland's Privacy Advisory Commission reviewed the program at its March 5, 2026 meeting, examining the surveillance impact assessment and operational guardrails.
Key privacy protections include:
- Flights conducted at altitude — imagery is focused on ground-level waste, not individuals
- AI model is trained exclusively to detect waste materials, not people or vehicles
- Data retention policies aligned with city records requirements
- Regular reporting to the Privacy Advisory Commission on program operations
What's Next
The Public Works and Transportation Committee's consideration of the pilot resolution is a key step in Oakland's procurement process. The program would integrate with the city's existing IT infrastructure, with Oakland's IT Department already engaged on system integration planning and cybersecurity review.
If approved, the pilot would provide Oakland with its first comprehensive, data-driven view of illegal dumping across the city — replacing a reactive, complaint-driven model with proactive, city-wide awareness.
Watch the Coverage
CBS News Bay Area covered the proposed Oakland pilot program:
The full March 24, 2026 Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting — including the Aerbits pilot resolution (Item 8) — is available on the Oakland City Council video archive.