Mayoral candidate promises live streaming CCTV on buses

Story link: Mayoral candidate promises live streaming CCTV on buses by Jan Harris

As part of his campaign to be London mayor, Boris Johnson has promised that if he were elected, he would bring in a six-month trial of live screening of CCTV on buses in the capital.

The £150,000 pilot scheme is designed to help police improve security on London’s transport network. It would beam live footage from the buses to a central control room.

The system would be deployed on the worst 20 bus routes, allowing both the police and bus companies to monitor the buses in real-time and quickly respond to anti-social behavior.

When responding to a call, police would be able to access the CCTV system on their way to the incident via mobile, handheld devices. The technology was designed by Integrated Security Solutions.

A six month trial of the technology was scheduled last month, but Transport for London decided not to proceed due to concerns about the £20m cost of installing the system across all buses in London.

Boris Johnson claims that it could be deployed on the most dangerous routes for just £3,000 a bus.