All full-size buses in Kamloops are now equipped with CCTV cameras.

BC Transit says it has retrofitted nearly 400 buses with those cameras, and more than 200 new buses have had them installed.

In Kamloops last year, there were 166 incidents on buses, and BC Transit Communications manager Jonathan Dyck says those cameras help deal with the situation.

“Those could be anything ranging from requests from police to requests from ICBC, from reports for drivers about something that’s happened on the bus to reports from somebody in the public who said something has happened and ‘can you please take a look and follow up internally about what has happened?'”

In total 47 buses in the Tournament Capital now have CCTV cameras on board.

In terms of privacy, Dyck notes there is a diligent privacy process that BC Transit takes in using them.

“We have found that they have been effective in two ways,” he noted. “One is deterring inappropriate activity.”

“The second is if we do need to follow up on an incident on the bus, if it unfortunately occurs then we do have that extra tool to do that.”

The footage isn’t used in real time – Dyck said that if there’s an incident on the bus and if the driver wants the footage looked at, they’ll tag that footage by pressing a button on the bus.

Over 600 buses across #BC now have CCTV cameras, say @BCTransit

47 in #Kamloops as listed below. #BCTransit pic.twitter.com/ihlpnEJJkK

— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) January 21, 2019