TTC shelves camera proposal

[unimaginative2]

TTC shelves camera proposal
JEFF GRAY

Plans to install security cameras in all TTC buses and streetcars were put on hold yesterday by city council's budget committee, despite concerns about terrorism and assaults on drivers.

Councillors scrutinizing the transit agency's budget asked it to shelve its $20-million plans for security cameras on its vehicles and in the subway until it gets the federal government to cover 75 per cent of the cost.

The move frustrated Toronto Transit Commission officials and "astounded" Bob Kinnear, head of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents TTC workers. He said management pledged to install cameras to help deter assaults on drivers. "I guess the bottom line is the almighty dollar, and they're putting finances ahead of public safety," he said.

Gary Webster, interim chief general manager of the TTC, said the cameras were recommended by a security expert in light of attacks on transit systems in London and Madrid."We're as supportive [of the cameras] as the union is," he said yesterday. "So obviously we've got to get this sorted out and get this back on track."

Councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East), the city budget chief, defended the move, saying her committee approved the rest of the transit agency's capital budget, which, at $717-million, accounts for half of the city's capital spending. It includes 320 new buses and payments for new subway cars.

 

[unimaginative2]

Here's more detail...

TTC security projects shelved

`Feds need to come on board' with more funding, Giambrone says

Feb 17, 2007 04:30 AM
Paul Moloney
city hall bureau

TTC security projects aimed at protecting passengers, employees and preventing a possible terror attack have been shelved by Toronto's budget committee.

Councillors on the committee pulled the funding, arguing Ottawa is not doing enough to help pay for the $5.8 million required for subway cameras and $14.4 million to place cameras on the fleet of 1,500 buses.

"The feds need to come on board," TTC chair Adam Giambrone said yesterday. "That point needs to be very clearly made. They really overlooked Toronto."

The TTC wants to be able to obtain high-quality images so individuals can be identified later if the need arises, Giambrone said, adding that kind of record can be invaluable in investigating a terrorist attack.

"The goal is to get an image of people entering the system," he said.

Transit systems around the world have been boosting security measures in the wake of bombings in London in 2005 and Madrid in 2004. Fifty-six people were killed in London and 191 people died in Madrid. On Thursday the trial for 29 defendants charged in the Madrid train bombings started. This week, an Al Qaeda faction called for attacks on Canada and its oil-production facilities.

In Ottawa, the federal government has introduced the Transit-Secure program to try to prevent what occurred in Madrid and London from happening on Canadian soil.

The first round of funding was announced last November. But officials at the TTC – North America's third-largest transit system – were shocked when it was revealed the agency would receive only $1.4 million of $35 million worth of security-related projects submitted.

At the time, then-TTC chair Howard Moscoe described the federal government's decision as "spit in the eye ... A slap in the face ... Like handing a bum a dime and saying, `Go buy a cup of coffee.'"

Councillors would like to see the federal government cover 75 per cent of the cost and, by shelving the funding yesterday, voiced their dissatisfaction.

Ottawa has indicated it's prepared to take a second look at the TTC's request when a new round of funding opens for the Transit-Secure program, which was announced in mid-2006 and runs to the spring of 2008, said TTC interim chief general manager Gary Webster.

"We will be eligible to submit (a funding request) and we have told them we'll be submitting," Webster said in an interview.

Currently, there are about 1,000 cameras throughout Toronto's subway system, which has 69 stations including those on the Scarborough rapid transit line.

The cameras are located at each collector booth and at security points where problems have developed over the years, Webster said.

The TTC would like to add another 1,500 closed-circuit TV cameras at entrances and exits, stairwells and other locations that TTC security and police believe require greater surveillance.

"We've looked at every station layout, and we've identified where those cameras should be," Webster said.


Giambrone points out that Toronto's security needs aren't as acute as other centres.

"It's a different culture here. We're not the United States. We're not Europe."

While putting the security projects on hold, the budget committee is recommending that the TTC receive $717 million for various capital projects this year. A final decision will be made by city council next month.

 

[wyliepoon]

Photos of new security cameras on TTC buses

These were on the 190 Scarborough Centre Rocket bus I was on this evening... new security cameras.

There are four cameras altogether on the bus. Two are located near the front of the bus, just behind the "Stop Request" sign. Two are located above the area in front of the rear doors.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Are those red muzzles just tape that hasn't been removed yet? All the cameras I've seen on buses recently have had none.

 

[Canuck 36]

I thought the TTC has scrapped this project - those that don't have them yet won't be getting them.

 

[The Mississauga Muse]

Hey there,

Thanks for the pics of the new TTC bus security cameras.

They look like Pelcos. Nice! Get used to them kiddies. And look around your city's facilities --transit stations etc. If they're not there now on the ceilings, they will be.

For more information about Pelco surveillance technology, check out last month's copy of Canadian Security Magazine featuring the other end of Mississauga's Pelco cameras!

Those are the Mississauga Watchers. And they're watchin' everyone in Mississauga's borders through their new Pelco's.

I don't use transit but yesterday for a lark (and because I read this thread and saw wyliepoon's pics), I went to the Mississauga transit station at Square One and took a peak around.

On the ceiling --if you look up... waaay up, you'll see one of these.

which I suspect are far more tasteful decor-wise and far more subtle subtle-wise than one of these:

Not to mention that these:

look like they're for emergency lighting or thermostat-thingies or anything else BUT "1984" in 2007.

Got a great chuckle inside the actual Mississauga Square One terminal yesterday. A sign there said that people "MAY BE" on video. I knew with certainty that when I was reading that "MAY BE" sign, I WAS on video.

Biggest laugh were the signs about loitering and "RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES" being "STRICTLY PROHIBITED".

MAN! I saw at least three people waiting for a bus READING NOVELS --a recreational activity if there ever was one! (Cripes, no respect for "police"!)

Seems to my untrained eye that there's a second Pelco near the southern entrance (lower ceiling) but I'm far too short to be certain.

P.S. Have to confess that for that lower Pelco, I was SO TEMPTED to stretch both my hands as far up as I could and do a shadow puppet play for the amusement of Security. (My fingers and hands can do a GREAT Gypsy Moth imitation). But I didn't want to wake them up. Plus a hand puppet play would be "recreational activities"...

P.S. If I were them, I'd order a bunch of FAKE Pelco's and slap them all over the place. Cheaper. Just make people THINK they're being watched.

PELCOs. Creeps me out --fake OR real. The cute round ones especially.

It's the DISHONESTY I loathe.

If Mississauga just stuck with:

then people'd at least know the EXTENT to which they're being watched.

And face it, with these

it doesn't matter that Mississauga's video surveillance signs are ENGLISH ONLY.

But no, they pick something round and friendly-looking and easil-overlooked-looking --like a small ceiling R2-D2.

Or an AIR FRESHENER! Like this one:

Thanks for sharing this pic, wyliepoon. Seems to me those are Pelco's as well. I'd like to think that the red stripping is to draw people's attention to them. You know, like in the interest of fairness and cooperation.

Just you be careful photographing inside Mississauga transit facilities and stations, wyliepoon. "LEISURE ACTIVITIES" --"STRICTLY PROHIBITED".

That means photography, dude.... The video-watchers DO NOT want you watchin' them on video. Or digital camera.

I had both a video and digital still camera with me at the time I was in the Mississauga Square One transit station. Didn't shoot a single ANYthing.

If you ONLY knew, wyliepoon....


Signed,
The (Boy **WHEW** --am I glad I'm white, female, almost look like a little old lady --and don't fit "THE PROFILE") Mississauga Muse

P.S. Challenge for anyone riding a Pelco-equipped TTC bus. Just say to the person next to you, "Boy, are we ever going to be grateful for those combination air freshener/oxygen-circulators come summer, eh?"

 

[The Mississauga Muse]

Just got this from The Letters to the Editor section of THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS.

I'd like to know if this is typical for Mississauga Transit. Second, if Toronto-types find this a problem on TTC buses.

THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
Buses not respected
Dear Editor:

The Mississauga News
Mar 12, 2007

Buses not respected

I'm appalled to see that our own Mississauga public bus system is being taken for granted and is being wrecked everyday with litter, vandalism and graffiti.

As I was riding the bus home after the end of a school day, I was disturbed to have noticed some people, especially students, take advantage of the driver's unawareness and the crowded bus by entering from the back door. On top of that, I was disgusted to have found a number of transfers and food wrappers lying on the ground, as if the bus was one gigantic trash can.

It agitates me to constantly hear of people carrying forged bus passes, see people eating and leaving their garbage behind in buses and especially passengers treating other passengers with disrespect.

I have seen students, eager to get on the bus first, push and fight with other students. Even worse, I have witnessed students take advantage of our transfer system by throwing their transfers out of the window for one of their peers to catch. Are they proud to have allowed their friend to sneak into another bus for a free ride without payment of a ticket?

People are not aware of the freedom we have because of a simple bus transport system that helps the lives of many Mississauga citizens, especially workers and students. People do not appreciate the significance of its usage in our city and how it truly does help our environment.

If people are willing to abuse the system's generous and convenient service, then they should not have the right to use it. I'm sure that many of those who have access to a car cannot bear to treat their vehicle this way.

If only people were able to stop and think about their actions, appreciate what they have and what they have been offered, they would respect and care for their city's bus transport system and not take it for granted.

Huda Al-Imari

Mississauga

Thanks.