JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- Next time you get on a bus take a look because you're on camera. And someone might be watching.
In February when a pedistrian was hit by a car on Jacksonville Beach it was caught on camera by a nearby JTA bus camera.
And now that each bus is being outfitted with up to seven cameras, Harry White, who is with Apollo Video, the company that created the camera system, says that kind of footage is showing up more and more. "It's not uncommon for law enforcement to request video from transit authorities from the cameras even if a vehicle wasn't involved in the incident. But the bus happened to be in an area where something happened."
White says the camera system is being installed on all buses, trollies and the Skyway. "JTA has the ability to look into those cameras live and see not only what's happening on the bus, but also the GPS position on a map and if it is moving, how fast it is going."
Steve Arrington, from JTA, says the point is to keep passengers safe. No one wants to be caught camera committing a crime. And if there's ever a situation first responders can see what's happening. "That image on board of activity going on in a bus in real time will be transferred to police or fire and rescue."
And passengers, like Ray Graves, say the cameras give them peace of mind. "If you can see what's going on you can keep tabs on everybody. You never know what's going to happen."
So far there are cameras on 68 of the 170 buses.
