Codiac Transpo will be installing closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on all of its buses.

The first two buses with cameras are being rolled out this week and the rest of the fleet will be equipped with them by the end of this year.

“We want our bus operators and our customers to feel safe when they are on our buses,” said Angela Allain, Director of Public Transit.

“CCTV cameras help act as a deterrent to incidents, assist in crime prevention, and, when an incident does occur, provide important information to assist investigations.”

The $200,000 project is being cost-shared by all three levels of government.

“CCTV cameras are an increasingly common tool used by public transit to assure the security of customers and employees and we are pleased to see this project go forward,” said Bryan Butler, Moncton deputy mayor and chair of the Public Transit Governance Commission.

“We appreciate the support we received through the (federal) Small Communities Fund. It would be difficult to implement larger-scale improvements in a transit system of our size without that type of assistance.”

All buses equipped with CCTV cameras will have signage installed both inside and outside the bus to inform riders that the cameras are in operation.

Each bus will be equipped with seven cameras, including at entrance and exit doors and outside the bus.

Codiac Transpo said it will only access the video if there is an incident that requires investigation.

The cameras will not be monitored in real-time and video will be kept only for a set period of time.

The video is being collected in accordance with the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Any questions about privacy can be directed to the city clerk at info.clerk@moncton.ca or 506-853-3550.