NJ Transit tests DriveCam bus surveillance system
Windshield-mounted cameras record data inside and outside the vehicle; at a cost of $25,000 per unit, the cost is steep, but agency hopes to make up the difference by reducing driver error and lowering liability exposure
Two weeks ago, the most popular video on the Internet showed two girls on a school bus brutally assaulting a classmate (why so many people wanted to watch this is a question best left to the sociologists). No doubt, some of the other students managed to grab some of the action with their mobile phone cameras, but the video itself came from a camera mounted inside the bus. Such devices are increasingly common these days, as are all forms of video surveillance, and now we hear that New Jersey Transit authorities are currently experimenting with them in their own bus system. Officials hope that by installing the cameras they will deter misbehavior, which in turn will help drivers keep their eyes on the road rather than on the rear view mirror.
Of the two types of cameras being tested, those provided by San Diego-based Drive Cam are the most interesting. The company’s windshield-mounted devices digitally record data from both inside and outside the vehicle. Unless the bus is involved in an accident — the camera can sense erratic and unusual movements — or the driver flicks a switch, the information is written over. “If someone points a gun at the bus operator and the operator triggers the device, we’d have the 10 seconds before initiation, so we would see the person walk up the aisle and the 10 seconds after,” said Jim Gigantino, NJ Transit acting vice president and general manager of bus operations. According to the Herald Record, each installation costs $25,000, and 74 buses and 48 regional supervisors’ vehicles at the garage will be so equipped.
The initial installation contract is worth $424,272, but a final decision on widespread deployment will depend on NJ Transit’s ability to get its hands on some DHS funding.
In June 2005, DriveCam completed an $18 million Series B financing with Menlo Ventures and JMI Equity.
-read more in Larry Higgs’s Daily Record report [http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061024/COMMUNITIES/610240337/1203/NEWS01]; see also DriveCam Web site
