Metro will install video monitors on 22 Metrobuses along one of the busiest bus routes in D.C. in an effort to deter bus driver assault and fare evasion, Metro announced Tuesday.
All 22 of the buses that will have videos installed are assigned to the busiest route, which runs on H Street from Benning Road to Gallery Place and Lafayette Square. The release cites four bus driver assaults on this route in 2015, which is more than any other route.
Metro Interim General Manager and CEO Jack Requa said in the release that assaults on bus drivers “impact the safety of everyone else onboard.”
“Through this effort, we want to remind riders that all activity aboard our buses is captured by the cameras and see whether the presence of the new video monitors has an additional deterrent effect,” he said.
In a $81,000 pilot program, the affected buses will have one 8.4-inch screen above the bus driver so that passengers can see themselves board the bus and another screen behind the driver so that the length of the bus would be visible, according to a press release.
Other measures Metro will be using to deter these crimes include increased fare enforcement by uniformed and plain clothes Metro Transit Police officers, increased penalties for driver assault, targeted outreach campaigns in public schools and the installation of plexiglass barriers to help protect drivers, according to the release.
“Every Metrobus is equipped with multiple cameras, and those cameras are capturing activity on the bus – inside and out,” MTP Chief Ronald Pavlik said in the release. “Our hope is that showing riders what our cameras see will serve as a deterrent against crime, including assaults and fare evasion.”