T.T.C. Starts Camera Installation On Buses & Streetcars
Posted October 30, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s more than just a song by Hall & Oates.
It’s a new tune being sung on TTC buses and streetcars.
The Commission has begun to install closed circuit cameras on all its surface vehicles, with the hope that cops can stop crime and catch those who cause trouble on board the regular routes.
How big a problem is it? The TTC gets 300 to 350 reported assaults on operators every year. The hope is that these new cameras, four of them on every bus and streetcar, will not only help catch the culprits, they’ll act as a deterrent as well.
TTC officials believe the clear, high-quality images recorded on a 24-hour loop will also result in quick arrests. “If there’s an incident or event, we want to make sure that the police, when they arrive, will be able to capture a picture of what happened and also to give them evidence when they go to court,” explains Bob Boutilier, the Commission’s Deputy General Manager.
Cameras now look down on thousands of places and spaces in the G.T.A., all for the same purpose. Do passengers resent the new unblinking watchdog? Many say they don’t.
“I think it’s a good safety precaution,” suggests rider Doreen Capstick.
The first 100 buses will have the cameras by the end of this year. By the time we reach New Year’s Eve 2007, they’ll be in all 1,500 buses and 250 streetcars.
And it won’t come cheap. The project will cost the Red Rocket Total $16.8 million.
