Safety pilot project expanding to entire Winnipeg Transit fleet

A safety pilot project that transmitted live video feeds from city buses in an effort to keep drivers and passengers safe is being expanded and made permanent.

The pilot was initially launched in 2021. It allowed staff at the Transit Control Centre, which is staffed 24/7, to tap into the live feeds when emergencies developed, in order to dispatch the appropriate resources.

The project happened over six months on 50 buses, using existing cameras and LTE technology.

The city told CTV News Winnipeg it is now expanding the program to the entire Winnipeg Transit fleet.

“All 607 buses have already been outfitted with LTE modems as part of our commitment to updating the technology and technical capabilities of our fleet,” a city spokesperson said in an email Monday.

“Because the LTE modems were installed to serve a number of operational uses, there is no direct, incremental cost for the live camera feed initiative.”

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 supported the project when it launched, and helped work on its development.

- With files from CTV’s Will Reimer and Charles Lefebvre