D.C. to Install Cameras on Bus Shelters Along H Street and Benning Road NE

As a means to deal with incidents that have occurred at a number of bus stops, the D.C. Department of Transportation is planning on installing cameras at bus shelters along H Street and Benning Road NE in the coming months.

A solicitation for the High Definition cameras closed last week, and DDOT spokeswoman Monica Hernandez explains that some 30 cameras will be placed at bus shelters starting at H and Third Streets NE and running down to Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue NE. The cameras will be tied to a command center at the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, where they will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Originally we were planning to install emergency call boxes at high incident bus stops along the H Street and Benning Road corridor—yet call boxes were not feasible and thus a change was made to install cameras at some of the bus stops along the corridor," wrote Hernandez in an email. DDOT hopes to have the cameras in place by May.

Beyond these cameras, the Metropolitan Police Department has a network of close to 90 cameras located in neighborhoods across the city. One of those is located at H and Eighth Streets NE, while another is located on the 1800 block of Benning Road NE.