5 Reasons You Should Have a Live Camera Feed Onboard Your Transit Fleet
Equipping your public transit fleet with the most innovative and up-to-date technology sets you apart from the competition, providing owners and managers with several benefits. With the ability to constantly monitor drivers, passenger behavior, weather conditions, and more, live-feed fleet cameras are a next-level solution for improving fleet operations. You can have a valuable, down-to-the-minute record of incidents and performance. Here are five ways your fleet can benefit from onboard camera feeds.
Monitor Driver Performance
Speeding accounts for 30 percent of fatal crashes, and reckless driving 33 percent. With this in mind, transit companies need to ensure their drivers practice responsible driving habits. Live dashboard, driver, cargo, and exterior camera feeds enable real-time monitoring. While the process may seem invasive to the driver, onboard cameras can also provide opportunities to improve driver performance by identifying potentially hazardous habits. For example, camera-monitoring allows operators to detect when their drivers follow too closely, depart from their lanes, get distracted by eating or phone use, or doze off due to lack of sleep.
Driver Training
Footage and data collected from fleet drivers are helpful training tools for both new and experienced drivers. Many companies have integrated video footage into their safety programs and new-hire training, which have ultimately helped reduce driver collisions. Videos of good and poor decisions made have created teachable moments for new drivers regarding the dos and don’ts of the job. With training, “showing” is better than “telling” in order to get across important points.
Accident Liability
Fleet cameras do more than monitor drivers and their performance. They can capture onboard incidents, vehicle accidents, and assist in determining who was at fault. Annually, commercial fleets account for roughly 20 percent of accidents. Fleet vehicle accidents can lead to expensive claims and huge losses for businesses. Suppose there aren’t any witnesses in the event of an accident. In that case, footage captured by fleet cameras can provide video evidence showing what happened and even potentially help exonerate a driver of any wrongdoing.
Interior and exterior cameras are also a plus for insurance claims as video evidence can resolve any questions claims adjusters may have, mitigate false claims, and expedite claims. Some fleet managers have found that installing video systems has helped reduce claims and proven that their companies were not at fault in most cases. The use of onboard cameras even contributes to lowering insurance rates. Even if your driver is at fault, captured footage can provide details about what happened, enabling you to address the situation appropriately.
Minimize Crime
Although cargo theft numbers declined in Q1 of 2021, theft incidents were still higher than they were before 2020. Commercial fleet thefts can lead to expensive repairs, stolen vehicles, and loss of productivity. Interior and exterior cameras minimize these losses by capturing thieves in the act and recording break-ins. Also, when used in conjunction with other fleet technology like Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), fleets can be tracked down to their exact location for recovery by law enforcement.
Besides theft of the buses themselves, many other crimes are committed on public transit each year, including petty theft, robbery, assault, aggravated assault, and vandalism. In Los Angeles, well over 700 crimes happened on public buses in 2019. And with the pandemic leading to an increase in crime and violence overall, public transit isn’t immune those effects.
With the potential for dangerous and costly instances like these, camera feeds can deter criminals and provide police with the evidence they need to pursue them.
Reduce Costs
If drivers are more aware of their behavior and driving habits due to monitoring, they’re likely to reinforce positive driving techniques in the long run. Additionally, collected footage provides drivers with valuable training materials. Over time, this leads to better driving, fewer claims, and fewer accidents, positively impacting insurance premiums.
From a risk management standpoint, insurance companies are considering video monitoring during the underwriting process, driving down auto insurance costs that have been increasing year after year. “We’ll continue to see more and more fleets using transportation data and analytics to understand driver habits and proactively deal with issues. Transportation tech that provides direct communication from the equipment helps prevent loss,” says John Ware, Vice President of Jencap Insurance Services.
Camera systems also help transit operators plan ahead for changing or dangerous road conditions, construction, and weather events that can lead to extensive damage and costly repairs to fleets. Using video footage, changes can be made to implement more fuel-efficient routes based on traffic, conditions, and more.
Drive Improvements with Live Camera Feeds
Overall, transportation companies value improved safety measures for their drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. Onboard camera systems provide an added layer of protection that can impact driver performance, understand driver liability, support route changes, and reduce overall costs.
Passio Technologies’ innovative solution, Passio Vision, seamlessly integrates with in-vehicle cameras, including equipment from our partners at Vestige. Transit agencies can easily monitor driver and rider behavior, in-vehicle incidents, and collect critical data to aid in making informed decisions that improve fleets. If you envision better fleet management and enhanced safety measures for your agency, Passio Technologies is here to help. Contact us today to learn more.
