Houston City Council approved the purchase of the cameras, which are expected to help traffic flow.
HOUSTON — Houston City Council on Wednesday approved its own security measure ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
Council voted to approve spending $350,000 to buy 10 AI-powered cameras that will be used to help manage traffic during the World Cup. These cameras will be installed along the Almeida corridor, which runs between the Fanfest site in the EaDo area and the temporarily named “Houston Stadium.”
The cameras would adapt traffic lights based on real-time traffic monitoring numbers, but one city council member pointed out that they had concerns about surveillance and how that information would be used beyond just controlling traffic.
Will there be a lot of traffic to control?
While the cameras would be used for traffic control, there may not be as much actual traffic as anticipated. That’s according to hosts of short-term rentals.
Officials with the Houston host committee project the tournament could bring about 500,000 visitors and generate an estimated $1.5 billion economic impact for the region.
According to Houston First, which tracks hotel and travel data in the area, hotel reservations are already trending upward compared to last year. Officials said June hotel bookings are up more than 9% and July bookings are up 11% compared to 2025.
But several local Airbnb hosts told KHOU 11 they have not yet seen the World Cup rush reflected in their bookings.
“My Airbnb listings are not booked as of yet,” said local host Adrian Garcia.
Garcia, who has been hosting for 10 years and owns or manages six properties, said he expected his downtown-area listings to fill quickly.
“Being that my Airbnbs are well located and right in downtown, I was expecting for it to be booked right away,” Garcia said.
Another host, Shannon Wolfe, said she also expected an early increase in reservations.
“We have not had a single booking specifically for the World Cup,” Wolfe said.
She said she adjusted pricing ahead of the event, though not as aggressively as Airbnb’s suggested rates.
Meanwhile, Airbnb, an official FIFA World Cup partner, says its internal data shows strong growth in some Houston neighborhoods. The company said areas including North Houston, Northeast Houston and Sunnyside have seen booking increases of more than 400% compared to last year.
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