Mayor Boris Johnson has announced the start of a live CCTV trial on London’s bus network following an election promise to assess the viability of the scheme.
Under an initiative announced yesterday by City Hall and Transport for London twenty one double-decker buses on a North London bus route will be fitted with new CCTV technology which will allow live pictures to be transmitted to the Centrecomm control centre which is staffed by officers from TfL and the Met Police.
Announcing the launch of the pilot scheme Mayor Johnson said he was “determined to banish the sad minority of hoodlums and trouble makers that have blighted our buses.”
Currently the bus fleet’s CCTV can only record images to be downloaded at a later time in the event of an incident.
Mr Johnson added that live access to CCTV footage “will mean we can play a far more effective role in sending police officers to sort out troublemakers. If this trial is successful then we will consider rolling out the system on other routes as part of our campaign to stamp out the casual disorder that led to a culture of fear on public transport.
