Intercity Transit has nearly finished installing camera systems on all of its regular coaches – almost 70 in all. Most of these installations involve seven cameras, while some shorter coaches have only five. All of them record video and audio information in a digital form for storage on a removable hard drive on the bus. The system records video on the bus for approximately 7 to 10 working days.

According to news stories (and Verint’s own website) these camera systems also wirelessly transmit the imagery to anyone with the knowledge and tools to make a wireless connection to the bus’ WiFi system, located above the driver’s head:

“In the event of a security incident, Nextiva Transit will allow supervisor and police vehicles to view live video from within the bus, enabling more effective actionable intelligence and emergency response.” 1

“Verint Systems Inc., a leading provider of analytic software-based solutions for workforce-enterprise optimisation and security, announced an agreement with Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) to enable the use of Verint Nextiva™ Wireless devices on MOTOMESH broadband wireless networks. (…) By deploying Nextiva wireless video management solutions on a Motorola mesh network, private security, law enforcement and emergency response personnel have immediate, high speed access to security video and data delivering heightened situational awareness to enable a more effective response.” 2

With the ability of the system to monitored live by those with the access tools, these systems have likely become a prime target for detectives seeking to identify those responsible for the Evergreen Uprising (Feb 15, 2008). Recent late night extensions of the routes to Evergreen have resulted in more “face time” for those who travel via bus to TESC. When I was logging camera installations in the post-uprising weeks I noticed only 3 of the 30 buses seen on the Evergreen routes were NOT ones with camera systems installed. Prior to the uprising, it was rare for the buses on the 41 / 48 routes to have cameras installed. It is not known at this time whether this intelligence “take” has proved useful to the Sheriff’s Department, but one can imagine others who would find its data quite useful.

1) http://www.sourcesecurity.com/markets/transportation/profile/2/co-1753-ga.141.html

2) http://www.intrusiondetection-info.org/cctvsurveillace/ver2.htm

I understand your concerns, but I feel they are misguided or misplaced. TESC Police Services and the Thurston Co. Sheriff's office both have a lot of footage of the Feb 15th riot. They also have have access to the database of student ID photos. If they wanted to make an ID they would most likey go to the easiest source and that is not IT cameras. I don't think either police dept. has enough time or resources to watch hours of bus footage to see if someone MIGHT be on the bus that matches the video they already have.(P.S. they also know what facebook and myspace are)
Also, as you said “In the event of a security incident, Nextiva Transit will allow supervisor and police vehicles to view live video from within the bus". I think the key part you are missing here is "in the event of a security incident". I am not sure if you think that Nextiva is going to just let the police see the video whenever they please, but I am sure that is not the case. If this issue concerns you so much, perhaps you should stick to walking, biking, driving or other modes of transportation for your commute after hours.

But I am Just Another Voice