Baltimore buses to tape driver, passenger conversations

Run_to_da_hills

At first I thought that this was just driver to passenger conversations that were to be recorded, seemingly not. All on board CCTV will be fitted with microphones so as to record conversations through the bus with on board notification.



Would this be allowed on Dublin Bus?

The MTA says the move is aimed at helping investigate crimes, accidents and poor customer service, according to the Sun.

The conversations will be recorded by a locked "black box" that can store up to 30 days of audio and video information. It could be opened in the event of an accident, an incident involving a passenger or a complaint against a driver, the newspaper says.

The buses will be also marked with signs to alert passengers to the open mics.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-mta-bus-safety-20121016,0,4501380.story

Cookie_Monster

good idea if used properly, may resolve complaints where drivers have been aggressive etc or aid the police in establishing what happened in an incident. As long as they are not doing something stupid like flagging when certain words are picked up: bomb and so forth...

For a second there I was wondering what was going down on the buses in West Cork.

CIE

Dónal wrote: »

For a second there I was wondering what was going down on the buses in West Cork.

Well, if they ever build a Pennsylvania Station in that Baltimore, you'd know things were on the way up (certainly for a town that lost its train service in 1961 under the Andrews "look at me, I'm West Beeching" axe)...

hmmm

Disgraceful. We are accepting more and more intrusions into our privacy in the name of "safety", "crime" and "what have you to hide?". It starts with sombre messages about it being a sealed black box, I guarantee that seal will be cracked open regularly and silently under the excuse of "crime prevention".

CIE

hmmm wrote: »

Disgraceful. We are accepting more and more intrusions into our privacy in the name of "safety", "crime" and "what have you to hide?". It starts with sombre messages about it being a sealed black box, I guarantee that seal will be cracked open regularly and silently under the excuse of "crime prevention".

Look up the Stockholm Programme.

Run_to_da_hills

hmmm wrote: »

Disgraceful. We are accepting more and more intrusions into our privacy in the name of "safety", "crime" and "what have you to hide?". It starts with sombre messages about it being a sealed black box, I guarantee that seal will be cracked open regularly and silently under the excuse of "crime prevention".

I would have thought TFL would have been the first to come up with something like this. They have already been experimenting with live CCTV monitoring on public transport from remote databases for some time now.

When systems eventually go 100% registered smart card, this is when the fun starts.

The authorities will be able to instantaneously match tagged on identities to voices and CCTV images.

dowlingm

30 days is too much for an onboard unit. I'd look at storing less at higher bit rates as onboard cctv is often too grainy and jerky to be of much use. The days usage should be pulled in the event of an accident or at the end of the day at the depot and uploaded to an archive which records all accesses to it to be kept for a reasonable retention period. Exclusion of video evidence except in specific circumstances for discipline is a matter for the union-management collective agreement.

Mrs OBumble

I'm in Edinburgh right now. The buses have signs up saying that CCTV and audio recording is in operation.

Run_to_da_hills

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'm in Edinburgh right now. The buses have signs up saying that CCTV and audio recording is in operation.

Would that not just be passenger to driver recordings?

I know this has been going a for quite a while in the UK.