All aboard…say cheese!

Earlier it was announced that Translink would install security cameras onboard the West Coast Express. (May 15, 2007 story: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=6c0621cc-83bc-4936-bd24-513a301520dd&k=14142)

TRANSLINK'S SHOPPING LIST
The list of counter-terrorism equipment requested by TransLink to protect the West Coast Express includes:
- Digital video recorders;

- Cameras;

- Motion detectors;

- Video servers;

- Infrared illuminators;

- Central-system video viewing and management hardware and software;

- Long-term video storage and software;

- Lamps and lighting-control systems.
(http://www.mrtimes.com/issues07/053207/news/053207nn3.html)

There has also been a recent pilot program on the buses that tested four types of cameras on eight buses, along with future plans of installing cameras inside Skytrains and updating the cameras in the stations to digital formats.

I have to agree with the people interviewed in the article that cameras on the West Coast Express are just not a necessity at the moment. Skytrain security is probably more important, whether in the form of a visible presence, like the transit police, or a “Big Brother” approach like London, with close-circuited televisions (CCTV).

But one has to question all of these new security measures. Would these initiatives have taken place if Vancouver was not hosting the Olympics? Or would they have just taken longer? Is this overkill, or just the beginning?