Public transport in general, and buses in particular, may be potential targets of vandalism, muggings and other attacks. Various offences take place in these locations. According to experts, CCTV can act as a preventive tool to improve safety in public transport by up to 90%. It is therefore a very important issue for the safety of people and equipment.
The CCTV solutions developed by ACTIA via our German subsidiary: ACTIA I+ME are regularly selected by public transport. How has this long-standing expertise been able to appeal to major prime contractors?
Asad ASLA, CCTV expert at ACTIA I+ME, the German subsidiary of ACTIA Group, presents the ACTIA I+ME CCTV offering.
What are the challenges facing CCTV in buses?
The CCTV market in itself is a great challenge. In addition to the innovative aspect of the solutions introduced onto the market, the challenge encountered by an equipment manufacturer such as ACTIA lies in our capacity to design and develop a CCTV solution that is approved and certified for various applications. The solution must also meet specific local requirements as well as climate conditions, regardless of latitude.
Here we are not only referring to the way a CCTV system withstands high and low temperatures. We also need to keep the system stable when subject to strong vibrations and impacts for the whole service life of the vehicle, regardless of the quality of road infrastructure, which differs from one country to another.
“This is the reality and not all suppliers take it into consideration, and it makes all the difference: offering a certified CCTV system for mobility or non-mobility applications. And certainly the requirements of the different market segments are not the same either.” Explains Asad ASLA.
So what are the requirements specific for CCTV?
The requirements mainly concern certification. Bus and coach requirements are different to tram and train requirements. For buses and coaches in general, you have to be E-Mark-certified, but for trams and trains, the system must be EN 50155-certified.This certification is very stringent and not easy to obtain.
“ACTIA is one of the most experienced CCTV solution suppliers. For over 25 years now, we have been offering our approved, certified CCTV system throughout the world.” Underlines Asad ASLA.
Can you describe the advantages of this solution?
The ACTIA CCTV offer is based around the HYBRID BOP XD recorder. This recorder has been specially designed and developed for mobile applications. It suits all markets: it can be used not only on buses and coaches.
The recorder is both E-Mark and EN 50155-certified, which are the main requirements of each European CCTV invitation to tender. This equipment is very innovative, in particular owing to its passive cooling system and the smart software graphics interface. However, these are not the only smart features.
The solution also includes:
- various connection interfaces,
- 16 analogue and/or IP cameras,
- 25 images per second,
- Up to 4 GB of disk space, etc.
A removable hard drive and USB port with an IBIS and CAN bus make the BOP XD recorder very innovative and forward-facing.
The other advantage to our solution is the hybrid feature of the cameras.
This feature, associated with the encoder and decoder, manages and displays both types of camera technology (analogue and IP) on an analogue monitor. This is an economic advantage, as using IP monitors makes the system more expensive.” States Asad ASLA.
In addition, ACTIA CCTV cameras with a WDR feature can offer the best image quality regardless of brightness conditions. Image visibility is a real challenge in mobile applications. You have to make up for difficult visibility conditions to be able to use the images if required.
In particular, we have to deal with:
- Lack of or too much brightness,
- Rain,
- Darkness,
- Mist,
- Shadows or blinding sunlight, etc.
Who are the main customers of the ACTIA solution?
ACTIA I+ME has won several interesting projects in the bus. We could not possibly name all of our customers. However, for example, in the bus sector, we recently won the Uppsala Public Transportation Authority project with help from the Scandinavian subsidiary of ACTIA: ACTIA Nordic.
This contract covers 185 buses equipped and secured with the mobile ACTIA system: a CCTV solution that uses our BOP XD recorder and AIMECAM cameras.
The public transportation authority of the city of Uppsala in Sweden selected ACTIA due to our innovative nature and also for the changeable aspect of the system. At the time of the project, the customer chose analogue technology for the cameras. Thanks to the supply of a hybrid recorder, in the future the customer may change camera technology and transition to IP with no extra investment.
And to sum up?
“I would like to add that within ACTIA Group there are complementary areas of expertise that, without context, strengthen our offer and contribute to our commercial success. For example: the range of passenger information systems, onboard entertainment or monitors from ACTIA Systems, the Spanish subsidiary, associated with the CCTV solutions developed by ACTIA I+ME, are able to really make the difference when it comes to common projects or tenders. The two companies regularly collaborate and this synergy helps win market shares. It is a real advantage for the Group and for our global customers, who benefit from this comprehensive expertise.”
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