Americans are turning to public transportation in large
numbers. According to a press release
issued by The American Public
Transportation Association, more than 10.65 billion trips were taken in 2013.
That’s the highest ridership since 1956 which coincidentally was the year Dwight
D Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, leading to the construction of
miles of new roads and the subsequent rise of the suburbs.
Unfortunately, here in the metropolitan New York area,
where public transportation is the choice of many commuters, this news was tempered by press coverage of numerous train incidents some
resulting in multiple deaths and/or injuries. The most serious and frightening
occurred early in the morning of December 1, 2013 when a Metro North commuter
train failed to negotiate a sharp curve and derailed, killing 4 passengers and
injuring over 70.
It has been established that the train approached the curve in the Spuyten Duyvil sction of the Bronx at a speed of 82 mph whereas the speed limit at that point is actually 30 mph.
Further questions involve whether the engineer night have dozed off, or as his
lawyer phrased it “went into a daze.”
If we are to go by recent press events, it may be likely that one day soon we’ll see
IP camera surveillance systems on board trains.
The timeline of demands and recommendations played out like this.
December 8, 2013
Posing the Question
Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Blumenthal of
Connecticut held a Sunday morning joint press conference in Grand Central
Station.
(Personal disclosure – yours
truly just happened to be passing through at the time and came upon them!)
The senators each beseeched the Federal Railroad
Administration to require cameras be installed in train cabs, pointed at the train operator as well as at
the tracks, Schumer saying“ Inward facing cameras may help railroad managers detect
dangerous patterns amongst engineers ahead of time, and also help investigators
determine the cause of a future rail accident."
Blumenthal’s opinion was
“Audio and video recording tools can help prevent operator
error and equipment failure.”
This was not the first cry for
IP camera security systems and
IP camera recording software to be installed in an effort to improve rail safety.
The national Transportation Board, the very agency conducted the investigation of the
Bronx derailment had been petitioning the Federal Railroad Administration for
on-board cameras since 2008 when a train accident in California took 25 lives.
January 12, 2014
Receiving an Answer
Senators Blumenthal and Schumer were back at Grand Central for another press
conference in which they announced they'd received a letter from a Federal
Railroad Administration official updating them on the measures that were being
taken.
According to NBC News4 in New
York, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo said the Association of
American Railroads initiated a safety camera pilot program in early 2013 and
that his agency has been monitoring the benefits.Based on what they’d seen, the Railroad Administration
planned to propose a rule that would require video cameras be installed in all
trains.
Several railway systems including Amtrak have been using
cameras to record crossings and signals but should another incident occur, even a minor one, data recovered using
IP camera recording systems would provide forensic evidence that could be used to remedy unsafe driver practices or infrastructure insufficiencies.
February 18. 2014
Recommendations Made
Regulators from the National Transportation Safety Board,
based on its investigation of the fatal Metro North accident made a formal recommendation
that new speed limit signs be posted along the tracks and that
network video recorders be installed on every train.
The New York Daily News quoted NTSB Chairperson Deborah A.P. Herschberg as
saying in a press release “The images and audio captured by recorders can be
invaluable to our investigators…..Understanding what is happening inside the
cab just prior to a crash can provide crucial information about how to prevent
future accidents.”
With that Senator Schumer was back at Grand Central Terminal and we’ll
let him have the last word.
 |
| “With these recommendations, the NSTB is confirming what we’ve said all along. Inward and outward facing cameras will greatly improve safety on Metro North and all other railroads. |
Whether you're a senator, business owner, school or hospital administrator or security director, if organization needs or is thinking of installing IP camera security systems, Kintronics can help you design one to fit your needs. Call 914-944-3425 to speak to a sales engineer or fill out a form to
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