JUNE 2017 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 35
SECURITY
“We do have trespassers on
our tracks; we are very vigilant
about that. Most of the
suicides on the system are like
that. Th ere’s not much you can
do, but we try in our right-ofway
to clear brush where people
could jump out in front.
We don’t have intrusion technology,
though we do have it
on our tunnel at San Diego
State University. Anyone who
walks into that tunnel, guards
are notifi ed immediately. We
have full-time security at the
tunnel so that we can respond
to that very quickly.”
Jablonski explained that
one of the most important
aspects of rail securement is
training MTS operators to be
vigilant. Th e MTS trolley experiences
rare pedestrian accidents.
Jablonski explained that
there are outside distractions
that interfere with their safety.
“One of the things that
contributes to that are people
walking around with headphones
and listening to music
and not being observant ...
We have a lot of safety features
built into all of our crossings,”
said Jablonski.
MTS utilizes yellow paint
on rail crossings, such as in
Old Town, due to previous
accidents.
“We’re always adding cameras
to more stations. We’re always
upgrading our cameras
too,” explained Jablonski.
Developing
Technologies
Incorvati said that technology
has continued to change in the
past few years.
“Th ermal cameras are really
the ultimate in terms of
detection. Th ey can detect at
any weather condition and
there are analytic technologies
that sit on the camera and can
detect an object moving at a
very signifi cant distance with
low pixel count. Th at helps in
right-of-way deployment because
now you need less cameras
and you’re able to detect
in much longer ranges,” said
Incorvati.
Th e embedded soft ware in
newer technology can also analyze
video to determine when
and where there is motion,
and where there isn’t.
Incorvati explained,
“What it does is, it creates at
the camera level and all this
embedded intelligence at the
camera level, the intelligence
determines that ‘OK, there is
motion here and I am going
to create this dynamic region
of interest.’ Th e video is going
to be compressed less — that
will help preserve important
information. In areas where
there is nothing happening it
will compress that video a lot
more. Th at is all done at that
zip stream.”
Incorvati said that the
soft ware at the camera level
is a platform for continued
growth. Along with direct
camera surveillance there are
a number of diff erent technologies
that come into play.
While Axis does not develop,
there are companies that develop
integrators in railroad to
provide solutions for remote
power — including solar.
“Th ings like that are enabling
more and more surveillance
for the right-of-way.
It’s not just about the camera,”
added Incorvati.
Incorvati said that securing
right-of-way on rail lines is
a way for an agency to protect
itself.
“Th ere are multiple reasons
why agencies would want to
cover the right-of-way. Sometimes
there are challenges
from the liability side where
they need to prove how it happened,”
said Incorvati.
Read the full article at masstransitmag.
com/12332998
For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10066716