How bus fleet operators can take advantage of video advances and avoid pitfalls

For bus service operators across the U.S., the era of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) video surveillance has arrived, allowing predictive capabilities and more seamless fleet management. 

The challenge for transit agencies is making the most of today’s advanced video technologies while avoiding overspending or investing in systems that fall short in the field. It’s critical to steer clear of common pitfalls, such as choosing video platforms that lack scalability or future upgrade paths, or selecting cameras and recorders that aren’t rugged enough to withstand the demanding conditions of daily transit operations. 

To answer these questions, it’s important to understand which solutions come with the lowest costs and the least risks and which solutions have the best track records. To cut through the hype, operators should also be clear about what AI video functions are now available and what benefits can be expected down the line.  

Solid technology foundations 

Gone are the days when it was enough to have buses only equipped with mobile cameras and DVR recorders. Today, everybody expects public transit services to be protected by high performance video surveillance to improve safety and security for passengers, drivers and other road users. 

To meet this demand, operators have access to affordable, ruggedized, military-grade mobile video solutions capable of capturing a complete record of events—inside and out—in both HD and ultra-clear 4K resolution, helping to ensure more reliable image quality regardless of lighting conditions, movement or road vibration. 

These proven solutions are backed by reliable recording technology with efficient data compression to allow extended data evidence retention without gaps. They also come with easy operating systems, extended warranties and a lower maintenance burden. 

But even now, durability and performance cannot be taken for granted.  

The quality of brands varies significantly; some of the most commonly used cameras and recorders will last a lot longer in service than others. However, there is now enough of a track record in the sector for buyers to be able check which video hardware is likely to give them the best lifespan and total cost of ownership value. They should ask whether cameras and recorders are likely to last for four or five years on the road or have a record of continuing fault-free for double or three times that. 

It should be remembered that for every device failure the cost of repair is beyond just the value of the hardware itself.  The true impact includes the labor to replace it, the vehicle down-time and the potential for financial losses if an incident occurs or an allegation is made, and video evidence happens not to be available. The more often video technology failures occur across a fleet of vehicles, the higher those risks become. 

Reliability is crucial, and with the right brand, it should be something that transit operators don’t spend too much time worrying about.  

Advancing capabilities, new competitive advantage 

Today a new consideration is the emergence of advanced video analytics with the potential to deliver a whole new set of benefits to transit operators and their customers. For managers and operators looking to modernize urban, interurban and rural transit services, this new technology promises easier integration of video surveillance with wider fleet management systems and allows the supercharging of operations with automated AI video analytics. 

Thanks to rapid advances in the accuracy of deep learning engines, highly accurate video analytics technology is now allowing automated detection and alerts to a growing range of trigger events. From line-cross occurrences, or left or removed objects, to trips and falls or violence and aggression, businesses are harnessing AI to improve security and safety.  

AI is speeding up footage search, review and evidence retrieval, and it’s improving the accuracy and usefulness of privacy masking to guarantee compliance with data and privacy regulations.  

Businesses are also using analytics tools such as people counting, heatmapping, occupancy monitoring and detection of demographic characteristics to improve their services, operations, staff resourcing and marketing, all to boost profitability. 

While many of these functions may not be relevant to the transit sector, or not a priority right now, there’s a strong argument for fleet operators to prepare for any future adoption, so they’ll remain competitive however the sector evolves. 

AI video will drive better fleet management 

AI video applications that are increasingly relevant in the transit sector include passenger counting. With accurate data about ridership, operators can be better placed to seek funding, to plan routes and to invest in services.  

Passenger flows and queues can be measured and analyzed over extended periods so that recurring trends can be identified. 

Vehicles equipped with forward-facing cameras can allow automated monitoring of bus stops, for example, to highlight whether they are in good condition, when they need cleaning or whether there are problems such as use by rough sleepers that might impact passengers. 

In all these cases, AI surveillance can flag potential issues for human operators to check, improving visibility across routes and services and allowing operators to provide better services with fewer staff. 

Performance tracking 

Metadata also allows vehicle movements and driver performance to be tracked. Metrics including vehicle speed, location, turning, braking frequency and excessive acceleration or braking allow a better understanding of route conditions and driving standards, as well as more accurate forensic investigations in the event of an incident. 

The best transit video solutions today are purpose built to enable live monitoring and recording of vehicle interiors and exteriors and combine robust video capture with GPS tracking and vehicle information systems data, including location and speed.  

For fleet operators, making the right choice will deliver significant savings up-front and over-extended system lifetimes, unlock exciting AI capabilities right now and make it easy to adapt and compete in the future.