Beijing to install thousands of cameras in buses

Beijing has started installing thousands of sophisticated surveillance cameras in local buses in the latest effort to ensure security and monitor the public, the state media reported today.     

Beijing has installed video cameras at 25 bus depots and is planning to install them on all buses that ply the Chang'an Avenue route, the citys main thoroughfare that runs past the politically sensitive Tiananmen Square, within the year.     

Wang Zheng, manager of the company responsible for manufacturing and installing the cameras, said more than 1,400 buses will be installed with four cameras each to ensure the safety of passengers.     

The new cameras, unlike those already in use on some buses, transmit instant images to a public security command centre, Wang said.     

During an emergency, the driver presses a button near the steering wheel to alert the command centre where the location of the bus and the driver's information is recorded.     

"These new cameras can effectively protect passengers and the vehicle itself from harm," Wang was quoted as saying by China Daily.      

The move to step-up security on Beijing's bus fleet comes after a bomb blast on a bus killed three people in the eastern metropolis, Shanghai in April.

A similar attack killed two people on two buses in the south-western city of Kunming in July.     

An office worker, Zhang Xin, said, "I will feel more secure in such buses, as the cameras will deter thieves."     

Zhao Jingjing, a student of Renmin University of China, said, "I hope it stops the groping that occurs on some crowed buses. People will be more aware of their behaviour".