Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/431828
20 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE • November/December 2014 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com M SECURITY INNOVATION AWARD TRANSIT PROJECT WINNER any people know the city of Boston for its his- torical implication in the onset of American lib- erty; yet, many are unaware Boston is also the birthplace of American mass transportation. It all began with a family-operated ferry service in 1631 which served to lessen the travel time between the Boston peninsula and other parts of the mainland. Today, the Massachusetts Bay Transporta- tion Authority, often referred to as the MBTA, operates a massive fleet of sophisticated vehi- cles including buses, subways, commuter rails and ferries in the greater Boston area. The entire mass transit system accommodates more than 1.3 million passenger trips each weekday, ranking the MBTA as the nation's fifth-largest mass transit system. When a Department of Homeland Security grant was secured to improve the security of its fleet, our mass transit organization appropriat- ed the funds to a first-phase upgrade for video surveillance technology aboard 225 of more than 1,100 buses, which serve 180 routes throughout the city. The existing video surveillance systems onboard buses were much older and offered lim- ited video quality. Kenneth Sprague, Deputy Chief, MBTA Inves- tigative Services Division, explains that retrieving the video was also a much longer process: "If an incident was reported, we would have to go to the bus to retrieve the hard drive, and then down- load it at the crime scene unit. We also only had Driving Security Innovation Aboard Boston Buses MBTA has received DHS funds to a first- phase upgrade for video surveillance technology onboard 225 of over 1100 buses, which serve 180 routes throughout the city. Greater Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority extends video surveillance on buses and provides access to multiple agencies to enhance mass transit and public safety