Cameras for local buses
Posted Feb 15, 2011 05:08:18 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Regional Council may be getting on the bus with the idea of surveillance cameras on Grand River Transit.
The Region’s Planning and Works Committee today will discuss and vote on the idea of installing an onboard mobile surveillance system on GRT buses.
A staff report says the system, will, quote, “enhance the onboard safety and security of travelling customers and employees since transit vehicles are vulnerable to risks.”
The system would be installed in two phases: putting cameras in the first 162 buses will cost over $755,000; the rest of the 218 buses will be installed over four years for another $750,000.
The report notes $1.7-million dollars for the surveillance system had already been planned for in the 2010 GRT budget.
The staff report also suggests the possibility of holding public consultation meetings to set up guidelines on how the surveillance video can and can not be used.
Such a policy already exists for the video surveillance cameras in GRT bus terminals.
The study notes surveillance cameras are already set up on over 1,800 buses in Toronto; 54 buses in Guelph; and even Whitehorse has three buses with cameras.
If the Committee supports the plan, it will still have to be approved in the next Council meeting.
