Security system will keep an eye on Metro facilities

Last week, Metro gave the green light to a $20 million surveillance camera system covering all 25 of its park and ride lots and one transit center. The 350-camera system will be installed over the next six months, Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert said, and will keep an eye on the facilities 24 hours a day. But the cameras are more than just cameras, KTRH reports:

A software program installed in the system will alert Metro police to certain incidents or provide specific details about a person officers want to find. For instance, if Metro cops are looking for a man in a blue jacket, cameras will alert those who monitor each time a blue jacket is spotted.

We hope they never have to search for, say, someone carrying a bus pass. "There's one! And there's another one! My god, they're everywhere!" Also included in the system are 150 security gates for park and ride lots and more than 100 public security phones.

Another interesting technological innovation for Metro: remote-controlled traffic signals. The agency will be able to control signals at more than 150 intersections across the city to help detour traffic around wrecks or — here's the kicker, to us — "speed Metro buses along their routes." We're not quite sure how that will work out, but we bet you won't want to be stuck at a red light trying to cross a street that has a major bus route.

(For your entertainment, KTRH offers this sample surveillance video showing a Metro police officer leaving a suspicious item — a briefcase full of doughnuts? — at a park and ride facility. It takes about 20 seconds for the officer to make the scene, so be patient.)