Overview
Metrobus is the main Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Mexico City and one of the largest bus-based public transportation networks in Latin America. Operated by 17 different companies and managed by the public agency Metrobús, the system comprises 7 operational lines running 164 kilometers of service and more than 280 stations.
The network connects 1.8 million daily passengers to key residential, commercial, and institutional areas throughout Mexico City.
To offer the safest service possible, Metrobus partnered with Optibus to tackle driver fatigue and distraction using MagicEye, an AI vision system that provides 24/7 real-time safety alerts. The result: safer journeys for passengers and better working conditions for drivers, without compromising privacy.
Challenge
Navigating the streets of Mexico City is a high-stakes task. Since 2022, the Metrobus system has recorded over 5,200 crashes, with human factors like driver fatigue and distraction identified as primary contributors. These issues were further compounded by workforce shortages, placing immense pressure on the 2,200 drivers responsible for the city’s transit network. Metrobus needed to prevent incidents before they occurred, not just react to them, while addressing driver concerns around privacy and new technology.
Solution
Metrobus deployed Optibus MagicEye, an AI-powered driver monitoring system, across 792 buses. Using high-resolution, driver-facing cameras, MagicEye detects fatigue (i.e. microsleep) and distraction (i.e. use of mobile phones), issuing instant in-cab alerts to drivers and notifying the control center via the Optibus Control online portal. This gives dispatchers a behavioral safety layer alongside their traditional operations. To protect driver trust, the system flags fatigue patterns without retaining video footage, and Optibus’s cloud-native infrastructure keeps sensitive data secure from cyberattacks.
Results
The deployment of MagicEye has transformed Metrobus into a technology-driven leader in urban mobility.
- Fleet-Wide Safety Alerts: More than 90% of Metrobus’s fleet now has MagicEye installed on board. In 2025, the MagicEye system detected and alerted the MetroBus team about 7,326 severe safety events (an average of approximately 141 per week).
- Better Driving Behaviour: 81% reduction in risk events, including microsleep and mobile phone use. Clear and sustained behavioral change among drivers, driven by real-time in-cabin alerts during operations, and accelerated performance improvement when combined with driver training programs.
- Data-Driven Safety Management: Dashboards provide centralized visibility into microsleep events across the fleet, enabling the analysis of event trends, performance by operating company, microsleep types, and temporal patterns. An interactive geospatial map displays alert locations, helping identify geographic patterns and strengthening proactive safety management.
- Implementation without Service Disruptions: With Optibus managing the entire installation process, Metrobus experienced zero operational disruption, leapfrogging to a cutting-edge safety system without missing a beat.
- Operational Efficiency and Scalability: Automation of the safety notification workflow removed major bottlenecks and enabled more events to be processed. After fully automating the workflow in 2026, the system effortlessly processed 18,761 events in just six months — more than 2.5 times the amount it processed in the previous year. The software’s improved capacity meant zero events slipped through the cracks, even as the monitored fleet continued to grow.
- 24/7 Proactive Risk Management: Around-the-clock visibility into driving behavior and trends allows Metrobus to predict and prevent incidents, shifting from reactive monitoring to a proactive safety culture. Metrobus can leverage real-time operational and telematics data to identify risky behaviors, anticipate incidents, and automatically trigger preventive safety actions. The information that can be utilized includes:
- Driver fatigue or distraction detected through cameras and AI.
- Schedules, routes, and areas with the highest incident rates.
- Incident history and trends by driver, route, or vehicle unit.
- Fleet geolocation and continuous monitoring.
- Enhanced Driver Retention: By implementing fatigue management strategies based on AI data, Metrobus supports healthier working conditions, helping to mitigate the impact of workforce shortages.
- Data Privacy and Security: The Optibus MagicEye system adheres to high-level data security standards, ensuring anonymized event logs that monitor trends rather than individuals. The privacy and security settings helped to encourage driver acceptance and technology adoption, leading to a smooth transition and onboarding.
