Skip to main content

San Diego deploying Apollo Video Technology’s transit camera system

San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), in California, has selected Apollo Video Technology’s RoadRunner MRH DVR and back-end management software for its fleet of transit vehicles.
March 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), in California, has selected 850 Apollo Video Technology’s RoadRunner MRH DVR and back-end management software for its fleet of transit vehicles. In the first phase of the project, Apollo will replace existing transit surveillance systems in 246 of MTS fixed-route buses and deploy wireless back-end equipment providing fleet-wide data and real-time video streaming. Ultimately, the four-year contract (base plus three option years) will equip more than 500 transit buses.

The new installation will include the company’s digital video recorders (DVRs), interior and exterior cameras, motion detectors, and wireless local area network (LAN) equipment. The contract also includes vehicle information management (ViM) software which will supply MTS with vehicle status reports, event logs, on-demand video clip retrieval and automated downloads of event video.

MTS undertook an extensive RFP process to select Apollo as the contractor for the project. The RoadRunner system was then installed on four transit buses as part of a 45-day test phase, which was successfully completed this month.

MTS will utilise the MRH8 and MRH12 series DVRs equipped with seven to nine cameras based on the specific bus types.  Each camera system supplied by Apollo will provide MTS with state-of-the-art Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities, allowing transit officials to monitor real-time video and location data. To capture potential incidents occurring inside the transit yards overnight, MTS requested that Apollo include motion detection capabilities to trigger the system to start recording at the first sign of movement. The passive infrared sensor detects any movement inside the vehicle when the bus is turned off.

“The combination of passive infrared sensors and the ViM software will ensure that MTS has top-of-the line video surveillance management while recording activity on the bus at all times,” said Rodell Notbohm, general manager of Apollo Video Technology.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Real time passenger information with live transit updates
    October 10, 2012
    Canada’s Regional Municipality of York (YRT/Viva) has partnered with Google and INIT, supplier of ITS and fare collection systems, to offer bus passengers real-time trip plans through Google maps. The service, Google Live Transit Updates, tracks YRT buses using INIT’s GPS-based navigation system and provides passengers with the exact time a bus will depart from their stop. YRT/Viva is the first transit agency in Canada to offer real-time trip planning on Google with up-to-the-minute next bus departure infor
  • New system expedites border crossings
    October 28, 2016
    Enforcing border controls can create long queues for travellers, David Crawford looks at potential solutions. Long delays at border crossings in both North America and Europe have sparked the development of new queue visualisation and management technologies that are cutting hours, even days, off international passenger and freight journeys. At the westernmost end of the 2,019km (1,250 mile) Mexico–US frontier, two parallel crossings between Tijuana, in the former country, and the border city of San Diego,
  • Priority boosts ridership and cuts congestion
    May 4, 2016
    Transit priority is proving a win-win in Europe and Australia. David Crawford reports. Technology that integrates with the Australian-originated Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) is driving bus signal priority and performance analysis initiatives on both sides of the world; in its homeland, with a major deployment in 2015, and in the capital of the Republic of Ireland.
  • New York MTA enters three-year pilot on all-electric and CNG buses
    January 16, 2018
    The New York Metropolitan Authority (MTA) has ordered ten all-electric buses as part of a pilot program to reduce emissions and modernize its fleet. In addition, it has ordered 110 new Compressed Natural Gas buses to operate across the Bronx and Brooklyn until the first quarter of 2019 which will also replace 781 of the oldest buses. This program also aims to provide the MTA and electric bus manufacturers with actionable data to refine and develop bus specifications for future procurements to ensure they