2008 Woodie Awards
Buses recognize safety
Ali Tweten
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: News
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St. Cloud Metro Transit buses are set up with video and sound recording devices, as well as trained bus drivers, said Tony Kellen, director of operations and technology at Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC).
"We've never had an assault on a Metro bus in St. Cloud in the 20 years I've worked here," Kellen said.
Recent violence on buses in the Twin Cities may make people uneasy about using the bus, but riding the bus in St. Cloud proves to be a safe form of transportation.
Last week, a 16-year-old was fatally shot on a St. Paul bus. In March, one man died after being knocked off a Minneapolis bus. Another was shot trying to quiet down a group of disruptive young men on a bus.
Thanks to a video on the bus of the St. Paul shooting, a 17-year-old is now being charged for the murder.
Federal law prohibits firearms and other weapons on buses, but if anyone does bring a weapon onto the bus, MTC has a strategy to keep passengers safe.
All St. Cloud Metropolitan Transit buses are equipped with five hard drive based high-speed color video cameras that take a picture every half-second and a compressed soundtrack that records in the back and front of the bus.
"We have some of the latest state-of-the-art technology, so we can print any one frame, and we can also stream the video in real time," Kellen said.
The buses also have Global Positioning Systems and Automatic Vehicle Location technology.
Every bus driver attends training in bus safety procedures and has special contact with the police department in their bus, Kellen said.
MTC was able to participate with police and brought a bus to a firing range so SWAT teams could test how the bus would handle bullets, Kellen said.
In a situation where someone has a weapon on the bus, Kellen said passengers should discreetly let the driver know about the weapon in some way.
"If there's something that they see, they can get out of their seat and tell the driver. They can be creative, maybe write a note or something," Kellen said.
"I think the biggest thing is that you never want to confront someone with a weapon that you don't know. You don't know what drugs they may be on or what mental state they may be in. The best way is, in a non-threatening way, to get that bus intercepted by the police."
There was one incident about 17 years ago that led to a passenger being taken off the bus by police, but the weapon turned out to be a toy plastic gun that another passenger saw and notified the driver of, Kellen said.
"We're very proactive," Kellen said. "If we have people that are creating issues on the bus, we will print their photo and work with the local prosecutors to remove their privilege to use the bus."