9.000 eyes watch the urban buses of Madrid

The Madrid Municipal Transport Company (EMT) has installed an onboard video surveillance system on its entire bus fleet. This pioneering urban transport project significantly increases passenger safety thanks to the nearly 9.000 cameras that, installed on board the 2.150 vehicles circulating around the capital, allow for real-time monitoring, through the transmission of images to a Central Alarm Receiving Station of any incident or emergency that occurs inside the vehicles.

With the aim of improving safety inside the Municipal Transport Company’s buses, the Madrid City Council launched in February 2007 the Onboard Bus Video Surveillance project (VEA), que ha implicado la instalación de 8.975 cámaras en los casi 2.200 autobuses de las 216 líneas existentes, que cubren 3.600 kilómetros y cuentan con 10.000 paradas. Un servicio que transporta anualmente a 425 millones de pasajeros y recorre 100 millones de kilómetros.

Este proyecto incrementa significativamente la seguridad en el interior de los vehículos ante cualquier incidente o emergencia y beneficia así a los usuarios del transporte público y a los trabajadores de la EMT, aumentando la calidad del puesto de trabajo de los conductores.

La implantación del sistema ha implicado la incorporación de cuatro cámaras de videovigilancia por cada autobús de la EMT -seis en los vehículos articulados, de mayor tamaño-. Its mission consists of the continuous recording and monitoring of high-resolution images in real time during service delivery so that, from various angles, the cameras capture minute by minute what happens inside the vehicle.

Emergency Response

The recorded images are stored on a hard drive installed on the bus itself and, if any incident occurs, they are downloaded to the operations center at the end of the vehicle's service. Only if a significant incident or a risk or alert situation occurs, and always at the driver's discretion, they can press a button that automatically transmits the recorded images, in real time, to the Alarm Receiving Center (CRA) -managed by Segur Control, an authorized security company by the General Directorate of State Security- which allows monitoring the entire fleet through real-time video.

From that very moment, the Control Center analyzes the images and, depending on the cause of the alarm, notifies the relevant operational centers - the National or Municipal Police or emergency services such as Samur, Civil Protection or the Firefighters- so that an immediate and appropriate response can be provided. While the images on the bus are recorded in standard definition, when they reach the Control Center, they are already in high definition, which gives them higher quality and allows their use for police and judicial purposes for the identification of persons. Cada autobús también incluye GPS de manera que es sencillo localizarlo en cualquier momento. Additionally, el sistema añade la posibilidad de que los pasajeros accedan gratuitamente a Internet gracias a la instalación de puntos de acceso Wi-Fi en cada autobús.

Es importante destacar que este sistema de grabación cumple todos los requisitos establecidos por la legislación en esta materia. So, las imágenes grabadas y almacenadas en el interior del autobús se conservan por un plazo aproximado de 7 días y, una vez transcurrido el mismo, son eliminadas. However, si las imágenes han sido registradas en el Centro de Recepción de Alarmas, se conservan durante un mes como máximo, momento en el que serán destruidas, except when they have been requested by the Police or by the judicial authority. Audio is not recorded -voice- of the passengers; only the driver has a microphone through which they can communicate with the control center if necessary.

Deterrent element

The new system has a strong deterrent or preventive effect and can also provide agility and greater efficiency when dealing with medical emergencies that occur on buses: falls when getting on or off, and even cases of heart attacks, nothing unusual in a means of transportation that carries an average of one and a half million citizens every working day. Despite this intensive use, the incidents that are recorded -with intervention by security devices and complaints or injury reports-, according to official data, do not exceed 50 per year.

Nevertheless, until the VEA project was launched, EMT did not have any active video surveillance system on its buses, which were exposed to acts of vandalism or actions against the safety of passengers and drivers. In the event that something happened, it was very difficult to identify the person responsible for the incidents unless caught in the act, which is difficult and did not happen in most situations. For this reason, it was decided to look for an onboard video surveillance solution that could help the Madrid transport entity achieve its objectives.

The Deputy Director of Technologies and Information Systems of the Municipal Transport Company, Enrique Diego, has explained: For many months we evaluated different ways to efficiently monitor and track possible incidents that could occur on our buses. Besides, we were looking for a system that would allow us to make quick decisions about the actions to take after an incident occurred. Based on our own experiences and conclusions and those of other similar projects, we decided to invest in video surveillance.

When the EMT made the public call for the video surveillance system public tender, it received 13 proposals with solutions from different manufacturers and integrators. For more than 6 For months we installed and evaluated 10 different video surveillance systems in 10 bus. One of the required criteria was the ability to provide reliable access to the live images captured by the cameras inside the buses. It should also be possible to integrate the video surveillance system with other onboard systems and easily expand the solution to meet future requirements, added Diego.

Awarded UTE

A camera with the ability to provide multiple video streams was sought, at least 2, one of which had to be in H.264 image compression format, since they had to be sent via 3G to the EMT Alarm Receiving Center. After the evaluation process, la EMT se decantó por la propuesta de la Unión Temporal de Empresas (UTE) formada por Etra Group, Hit it y Plettac, que presentaron un proyecto basado en cámaras de red y codificadores de vídeo de Axis Communications, que ofrecen la disponibilidad del formato H.264 y el aumento de la capacidad del procesador de los productos Axis, el ARTPEC, que en su versión 3 permite proporcionar múltiples secuencias de vídeo simultáneas en diferentes formatos de compresión.

Durante el primer semestre de 2009 se realizaron pruebas técnicas y funcionales con el sistema VEA en un vehículo prototipo dotado de cámaras. Una vez concluidas estas pruebas, en el segundo semestre de 2009 se implantó dicho sistema en una treintena de vehículos pertenecientes a tres líneas, y desde mediados de 2011 la red de cámaras de vigilancia ya ha sido instalada en toda la flota de la EMT -2.150 vehículos-.

Casi 9.000 installed cameras

Cada autobús estándar va equipado con 4 video surveillance cameras. Se pretende la captura de vídeo desde diversos ángulos del vehículo, su almacenamiento en local, procesamiento de imágenes y diversas interfaces de telecomunicaciones con los que se podrá visionar el compartimento interior de los autobuses en tiempo real y en diferido. Las cámaras van adheridas al techo del autobús y apenas son perceptibles, si uno no se fija detenidamente.

Tres de las cuatro cámaras son cámaras de red Axis M3113-R, robustas, compactas y fáciles de instalar, que proporcionan imágenes de alta resolución y han sido especialmente concebidas para su uso en sistemas de transporte terrestre de pasajeros, diseñadas para soportar el desfavorable entorno de a bordo, incluyendo resistencia a las vibraciones y a las fluctuaciones de temperatura y alarma anti-manipulación.

Bruno Azula, responsable de Cuentas Estratégicas de la firma sueca, ha señalado que “las Axis M3113-R proporcionan resolución SVGA (800×600 pixels), que ofrece el suficiente nivel de detalle como para identificar personas u objetos. Las cámaras pueden transmitir secuencias de vídeo a la máxima frecuencia de imagen en los formatos de compresión H.264 y Motion JPEG. La compresión H.264 optimiza el consumo de ancho de banda (crítico para las comunicaciones móviles 3G) and the storage requirements.

The Axis M3113-R include a robust RJ-45 or M12 network connector. They respond quickly to changes in light levels, and are able to capture sharp images of moving objects using progressive scan technology. They are designed for easy and reliable installation and also support the Power over Ethernet standard (which allows the cameras to be powered through the network cable) a single cable is enough for both power and video transmission and they can be integrated with other devices and security systems, Azula added.

Axis M3113-R
• Especialmente diseñada para la videovigilancia en autobuses, trains, subway cars and emergency vehicles
• Diseño plano y robusto
• Barrido progresivo y resolución SVGA
• Múltiples secuencias H.264 y Motion JPEG
• Instalación rápida y fiable
• Protección frente al polvo y el agua
• Alarma antimanipulación activa

Diseño personalizado

A petición de la EMT, Axis llevó a cabo un rediseño mecánico de las cámaras, permitiendo que el cable de conexión saliera verticalmente en vez de por un lateral. Este detalle es importante ya que parte de los servicios de limpieza de los autobuses se realiza con agua a presión. También se reforzaron las características antivandálicas, de aislamiento frente al agua y de resistencia al calor. Besides, increased the fire resistance of the camera protective housings. The Scandinavian manufacturer also developed a series of accessories that provide improvements both in capabilities and in the ease of camera installation, equipping them with special adapters to be able to install them on curved areas of the bus, and created a tool to assist with camera focusing.

The deputy director of Technologies and Information Systems of EMT pointed out in this regard: For this project, it has been very important to be able to count on a camera supplier like Axis Communications, that has shown to know how to stay close to its clients. They have leveraged our previous experiences in onboard video surveillance and the characteristics of the Madrid public transport bus fleet to develop the Axis M3113-R network camera. This product fits perfectly with the requirements and needs of our project and we believe that, given the similarities that exist between urban bus transport systems, it can suitably fit into most onboard video surveillance solutions that could be implemented in any city in Spain and around the world.

Discreet cameras

As for the fourth camera, the one installed just behind the driver, it was decided that it would incorporate audio capabilities. Por este motivo se consideró que lo mejor es que fuera una cámara analógica y que se incluyera un codificador de vídeo con capacidades de audio para que convirtiera las imágenes analógicas y el audio al formato digital y pudieran incorporarse al sistema. La cámara analógica aporta mayor sensibilidad lumínica en escenarios de mayor oscuridad.

El modelo elegido fue la cámara DDF3000APV Picodome de Dallmeier para montaje empotrado, con burbuja transparente y objetivo monofocal de alta resolución. La DDF3000APV es un minidomo muy pequeño y compacto con un diámetro de sólo 94 mm., protección antivandálica y rango dinámico ultra-amplio. The camera integrates perfectly into the existing bus architecture and is discreetly installed recessed in the ceiling, painted white, so the white Picodome arch fits perfectly. Nevertheless, the small size and compact construction are not the only advantages: thanks to Cam_inPIX technology, the Picodome provides sharp images with high contrast and color fidelity even under the most challenging lighting conditions.

Dallmeier DDF3000APV
• Horizontal resolution: 540 TV lines
• 1/3” DPS image sensor with Cam_inPIX technology
• Digital Pixel System chipset
• Digital signal processing 17 bits
• High light sensitivity at F1.4, 50IRE: 1,0 lux
• Image capture: progressive scan
• Image transmission: progressive with segmented frames (PsF)
• Lens coating with IR-cut layers
• Advanced noise reduction
• Image quality optimization through numerous control functions, such as AWB, AGC, BLC and advanced slow shutter
• Monofocal lens at F1.4 / f=3.6mm
• Configuration via UTC commands
• Compact and vandal-proof housing with IP66
• PPL (push, point and lock for easy orientation)
• Verified according to DIN EN 50130-4

Video quality

This camera communicates with an Axis Q7401 encoder, una solución de alto rendimiento de un único canal que integra una cámara analógica en un sistema de videovigilancia basado en IP. Gracias a sus capacidades de procesamiento de vídeo, el Axis Q7401 ofrece una calidad de vídeo superior y permite ahorrar en ancho de banda y almacenamiento.

El Axis Q7401 ofrece el sistema de compresión de vídeo de gran eficiencia H.264, que reduce de manera drástica los requisitos de ancho de banda y almacenamiento sin que la calidad de imagen se vea afectada. Para una mayor flexibilidad, también es compatible con Motion JPEG. El Axis Q7401 puede proporcionar múltiples secuencias de vídeo simultáneas y configurables individualmente a frecuencia de imagen máxima en todas las resoluciones, hasta D1 (720 x 480 pixels in NTSC, 720 x 576 pixels in PAL). This means that the various video sequences can be configured with different compression formats, resoluciones y frecuencias de imagen según se necesite.

El codificador de vídeo también permite a los usuarios ajustar parámetros de imagen como el contraste, el brillo y la saturación para mejorar las imágenes antes de que se realice la codificación.

El Axis Q7401 incluye funciones inteligentes como detección de movimiento mejorada, alarma de manipulación activa y detección de sonido. Las entradas y salidas externas del codificador se pueden conectar a dispositivos como sensores y relés, lo que permite que el sistema reaccione a alarmas y, For example, active luces o abra/cierre puertas.

Power over Ethernet compatibility (IEEE 802.3af) allows the unit and the analog camera it is connected to receive electrical power using the same cable used for data transmission. This makes installation easier, as there is no need for a nearby power outlet. In addition, The Axis Q7401 features two-way audio and an SD/SDHC memory card slot for local storage.

Axis Q7401
• Outstanding video quality
• Multiple H.264 streams
• Image configuration settings
• Intelligent video functions
• Power over Ethernet
• Audio support
• Local storage

The new video surveillance system on EMT Madrid buses has not only helped reduce the costs of responding to incidents. It has also provided EMT with an effective security tool to prevent potential crimes and investigate incidents that occur within this transport network. Onboard video surveillance allows us to identify the individuals causing incidents, and any evidence of criminal activity is recorded and can be used as compelling proof in legal actions. We estimate that the annual costs associated with vandalism and graffiti removal amount to around 600.000 €, a figure that we hope will decrease considerably. Al mismo tiempo consideramos que el mantener nuestros autobuses seguros hace que atraigamos más pasajeros y aumente su nivel de satisfacción con el servicio que les prestamos”, ha concluido Enrique Diego.

Client:
Municipal Transport Company (EMT) from Madrid
Integrador:
U.T.E. VEA (Etra Group, Iecisa y Plettac)
Proveedores:
Axis Communications y Dallmeier
Soluciones:
Cámaras Axis M3113-R y Dallmeier DDF3000APV y codificador Axis Q7401

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIvBm41y5sA[/youtube]

Galería

(clicar en cualquier foto para iniciar carrousel -desplazamiento a derecha e izquierda pinchando sobre la flecha-)