Automotus

Automotus is a Los Angeles-based company that sells an automated curb management platform for cities, airports, fleets and businesses. Its CurbSight cameras attach to existing infrastructure such as streetlight poles and use computer vision with edge processing and 5G connectivity to capture curb and traffic activity in real time. The platform covers three main functions: data collection and analytics broken down by vehicle type (delivery, TNC, bus, passenger, electric and hybrid vehicles, plus e-scooters, bikes and pedestrians); automated payment and invoicing for time spent at the curb, without requiring apps or meters and with optional discounted rates for electric vehicles; and automated enforcement, which detects violations in real time and can notify enforcement officers or automatically issue citations.

For cities, the product supports demand-based pricing policies, sharing real-time availability data with drivers, per-minute invoicing of fleet operators, and smart loading zones. For airports, it validates ground transportation activity to create a ledger of billable transactions, manages staging lots, enables designated premium curb access with dynamic pricing, and detects infractions such as excess dwell time, non-permitted vehicles, unattended vehicles and improper trade dress. Fleet and business use cases focus on reducing time searching for parking, improving parking turnover and enabling curbside pickup.

The company emphasizes a privacy-oriented design, stating that its technology blurs faces, de-identifies data and captures only license plates relevant to payment and enforcement, with independently audited privacy policies and SOC 2 certification.

Founding story

In 2017, friends Jordan Justus and Harris Lummis were students at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles when they read that one-third of urban traffic is caused by parking. Having recently taken a computer vision class, they applied the technology to traffic and parking problems on their campus, building automated traffic enforcement technology for the university.

Business model

Automotus sells its curb management platform to public-sector and transportation infrastructure customers — cities, airports, fleets and businesses — positioning the technology as a way to capture revenue from curb and ground transportation activity through automated invoicing, premium curb access charges, dynamic pricing and citation issuance. Airport customers can also access the product suite through a partnership with AAAE.

Sources describe customer-side monetization mechanisms including automated per-minute invoicing of fleet operators, charges for premium curb access, dynamic pricing and automated citations; the company's own pricing terms are not specified.

Traction

The company reports deployments in dozens of markets across the country. In Pittsburgh, the Executive Director of the parking authority reported reductions in double parking, traffic and emissions after installing 20 smart loading zones, later expanding to 60 and then to bike lanes and no-stopping zones. In Lincoln, Nebraska, Automotus cameras helped officials craft downtown parking policies. Company-stated outcome figures include a 16% reduction in congestion and emissions, a 94% reduction in double-parking hazards, 4.7x acceleration of electric vehicle adoption and a 53% increase in parking turnover.

Latest developments

On December 12, 2025 Automotus announced a new round of growth capital with participation from Santa Barbara Venture Partners, Weatherford Capital, BarronKent Ventures, Techstars Ventures, kineo and additional strategic investors. Coverage reported the round as $9 million, comprising $7.5 million in equity and $1.5 million in credit from a single investor, bringing total equity funding to $26 million. Proceeds are earmarked for deeper product offerings, market expansion and customer support.