Security cameras going on Chattanooga buses

The next time you board a city bus in Chattanooga, your every move might be recorded by security cameras.

By the end of the month, all 80 of the city's commercial buses will have up to five security cameras to monitor the actions of passengers and the bus driver. Six buses already have been outfitted with cameras.

"Perhaps someone thinking of doing something that's not correct will think twice knowing that we can get their photo and turn it over to the proper authorities afterward," said Tom Dugan, executive director of the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority.

Part of a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will pay for the cameras. The money was awarded about five years ago and already has provided CARTA buses with GPS software, computer-assisted dispatching, digital read-out signs and upgraded fare boxes that connect with CARTA's new computer system.

"This is the last stage of this grant," said Dugan, adding that it covers the $800,000 cost of the cameras, including installation. Maintenance costs are expected to be minimal, Dugan said.

Signs will be posted on the bus to inform riders of the cameras, he said.

"People seem to act a little nicer with cameras," Dugan said.

Bus riders recently polled by the Times Free Press weren't aware that cameras were being installed on city buses, but none objected to the idea.

"That's good," said Jonathan Dawson, 46. "People should always pay attention to what they do on the city bus. Respect themselves and respect other people."

Drunk riders and rowdy teens justify the need for the cameras, said Dawson, who rides at least three times a week.

"You have a lot of inebriated people getting on the bus causing problems, a lot of kids getting on the bus talking loud. It disturbs other people when they're trying to go to work," he said.

John Bonner, 58, uses the bus to get downtown from his home in Mary Walker Towers and agrees that the cameras could reduce rowdiness.

"It's just good to have. You can have rowdy people on the bus." Bonner said.

Younger riders also approved.

"It will probably be good," said James Watkins, 18. "I've seen people drinking beer on the bus. The bus already says you're not supposed to be eating or drinking."

Other riders said the cameras could be used to show when bus drivers don't stop for them or if drivers are rude.

But CARTA drivers said they didn't have a problem with the cameras either. Porchia High, a CARTA driver for two years, said she wants people to see the work she does.

"People think all we do is smile and ride but it's not as easy as it looks," she said. "We're not just bus drivers. We're psychiatrist, Cupid, counselors and tour guides. We do it all right here."

Greg Ball, a CARTA driver for eight years, said the cameras will provide added security for the driver and the public.

"I'm not worried about someone watching," he said. "As long as you're doing what you're supposed to do, it's a deterrent."

Five cameras will be on the larger, fixed-route buses and three cameras on the free electric shuttles and Care-A-Vans. Images from the cameras will digitally download into computers at the CARTA bus station. Certain CARTA employees can monitor bus activity live if the situation requires it, officials said.

"It's full-bus surveillance," Dugan said. "One camera or another is going to see where you're at."

The company doesn't have the manpower to monitor the cameras seven days a week while the buses are in operation, but if someone makes a complaint, CARTA will use the camera recordings to verify information, he said.

Maureen Cronin, marketing director for Clever Devices, the Plainview, N.Y., company that is installing the cameras, noted that the equipment also can record and report vehicle speed and coordinates.

"So you can tell where the bus is at the time of the recording," she said.

All buses will have at least one camera pointed outside to show what happened in case of an accident, Dugan said.

Security cameras were installed on six buses near the end of September, and CARTA officials are monitoring their operation before the others are installed. Officials want to make sure that pictures are clear and that the cameras are actually recording, he said.

More cameras are scheduled to be installed next week, Dugan said.

Cameras have been installed on buses in cities across the country in recent years as a deterrent to crime, to help ensure public safety and to defend against fraudulent claims in the event of lawsuits or accidents.

There hasn't been much crime on CARTA buses, Dugan said, adding that he hopes the cameras provide incentive to keep it that way.

In the past five years, just one bus driver has been struck by a passenger, and he was mentally ill. There have been no life-threatening incidents, Dugan said.

Some riders complain of people eating and even drinking beer on the bus, despite the posted no drinking or eating signs. Some riders have boarded the bus drunk and youth have gotten on the bus throwing water balloons and eggs, Dugan said.

"Malicious and certainly not desirable, but as far as robberies, there have been none, and battles between passengers are very rare," he said.

He also noted the role that security cameras have played in defending against bogus claims elsewhere.

"Other transit systems have found that by placing them on buses, it significantly reduces fraudulent accident claims," Dugan said.

Claims in some cities dropped as much as 30 percent, Dugan said.

Several transit companies have reported that their decrease in claims has been worth the cost of the security cameras. Just one claim can be expensive, said Jill Veron, CARTA's director of transportation and planning.

"Many times when someone makes a fraud claim, it comes to their word against the driver's. The cameras give credibility to the truth," Veron said.

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