Lack of ubiquitous bandwidth and cost in SA is limiting the full roll-out of implementing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras with remote monitoring capabilities on public transport.
This is according to Laurence Smith, executive at Graphic Image Technologies, who spoke to ITWeb recently.
He notes digital video streams typically require extensive bandwidth - while home, office LANs, and broadband connections provide reasonable bandwidth capacity, cellular networks tend to be limited.
Smith believes cameras with remote monitoring capabilities can help reduce misconduct as well assist in apprehending perpetrators should an incident occur on public transport systems.
The recent World Economic Forum's global information technology report notes broadband costs in SA are ranked among the world's highest, which adds to the cost of doing business and prevents wider use of the Internet.
To overcome this challenge, Smith urges organisations to invest in advanced technologies, enabling high-quality live video streaming using any available mobile data connection, for example 3G.
He points out the vast majority of South Africans make use of public transport as this is a more cost-effective way to travel.
A Statistics SA report (March 2014) revealed that of 15.3 million workers surveyed, 3.7 million workers make use of taxis, three million make use of trains and one million get to work via a bus. This equates to about 7.7 million people relying on public transport to get to work on a daily basis.
Smith believes on-board CCTV systems with remote monitoring capabilities offer an intelligent solution to improving security on public transport.
In case of crime, culprits can be easily identified and action taken against them, even if acts are perpetrated on the road in remote areas, he says.
Therefore, the use of CCTV monitoring can help the transport sector to actively monitor public transport systems and ensure incidents such as theft and injury are minimised or prevented, says Smith.
He adds it bolsters the reputation of the transport provider, irrespective of whether this is a public service or privately owned company.
Share
