New camera system being tested on Edmonton city buses

Edmonton Transit is testing new camera technology starting this week to help drivers operate buses in a safer manner, says the head of the bus drivers' union.

The pilot project will see a monitor installed in the drivers compartment and live cameras on each of the four corners of the bus, said Steve Bradshaw, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 president, Wednesday.

"(It) will show an around-the-vehicle view of what's out there," he said.

Two pedestrians have died recently in Edmonton after being struck by ETS buses.

Mary Lynch, 83, was killed on Oct. 4 while Mariama Sillah, 13, died on Nov. 26.

The drivers involved have both been charged under the Traffic Safety Act with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. In both cases, the buses were turning left.

The city is also reviewing its safety program and practices in light of continuous improvement, said Janice Schroeder, communications manager, city operations.

That review includes an audit of the crosswalk program, Schroeder said.

The audit will be done in 2017 by city auditor David Wiun. The audit will cover "how pedestrian crosswalks are selected, how they are implemented, and how effective they are in achieving pedestrian safety," she said.

"There may be particular crosswalks which are looked at as part of that, but if that happens and whether they are the ones from these collisions is a decision of the auditor, not ETS," Schroeder added in an email. 

Pilot project

The union is working with the City of Edmonton on the trial run of the new technology. The equipment was installed this week on two buses that will take part in the pilot project.

"There may be some deficiencies with it," Bradshaw said. "We're concerned that it's another device that drivers are expected to keep an eye on."

There are already a lot of distractions for an operator on a bus and to add one more might not be the best idea, he added.

"[But] any time that we can put a tool in an operators hands that might help make the job safer, it pays us, and pays society for us to at least give it a try," he said.

The pilot project will run "as long as it takes to get a good lead on it," Bradshaw said.

The operators of the newly-equipped buses will be asked to leave comments in a ledger on the bus and the union's collision review specialists will also have a look at it, he said. 

Those specialists have been working with the city on how and where to install the cameras and monitors, added Bradshaw.

The union has raised concerns about blind spots on city buses that interfere with a driver's view, that are made worse during a left-hand turn.

It's too early to know if this new camera/monitor system will improve a driver's view while making a left turn, Bradshaw said.

"I don't want to minimize the events from the past couple of months. They are deep-seated tragedies," he said. "But that said, I would also like to draw attention to the millions and millions of kilometres that our 1,600 transit operators drive every year safely, without incident."