Huron Shores Area Transit has recently installed security cameras on both of its buses and updated its Passenger Courtesy, Conduct & Safety policy in a proactive effort to maintain and enhance passenger and driver safety.
Transit Coordinator Susan Mills says she believes everyone is a little concerned about their safety.
“I think everybody is a little concerned about their safety nowadays and we are aware that we’re living in a different world than we were twenty or thirty years ago, and we’ve taken steps to make sure that our passengers are safe, and dissuade some trouble makers from making trouble,” explained Mills.
Mills says there’s a camera on each bus.
“There’s one on each bus and it’s trained on the passenger compartment area, and when I was consulting with some other transit systems, they said that even just having those security cameras does dissuade a lot of bad behaviour,” Mills added.
The buses’ digital recording will be kept for seven days, at which time the system automatically records over the previous recording. Mills says if an incident requires action by the Municipality of Lambton Shores or the police, that specific piece of the digital recording can be downloaded, saved and used as necessary for the safety and security of employees, the public and physical property.
Mills says that also led them to take a look at the behaviour expectations they would have for passengers and that passengers might expect of each other. Basic things like not taking up a seat with bags or personal belongings, generally being polite to each other, no smoking or drinking and not bringing something like a propane tank on the bus.
Prior to installing the cameras, Mills says they have never had a problem since the service was launched, but they want to be proactive and let passengers know they are safe. More information can be found at HuronShoresAreaTransit.ca.
