Safer bus travel with Nobina thanks to Axis network cameras.

Nobina is Sweden’s leading bus company. It develops, sells and provides contracted bus services for more than 20 of Sweden’s transportation companies. The new IP video surveillance system was to replace an existing on-board analogue system. Nobina required a highquality turnkey security video solution which was reliable and secure and which increased safety and security for both passengers and staff. The solution needed to be future-proof, based on an open standard, highly scalable, and capable of being managed and administrated centrally

Nobina was able to increase safety and security for both their bus passengers and their drivers. The system is easy to install and monitor centrally, eliminating the costly requirement for engineers to manually retrieve data from each individual unit. The new high-definition surveillance system also makes it easy for police to immediately and remotely access high-quality image material in both real time and for forensic review, enabling an effective and timely response. The image material in vehicles can be obtained in real time or downloaded via the network for further analysis.

A well-functioning security system is an important part of making buses a more attractive choice of public transportation. Nobina wanted to increase safety and security for both its passengers and bus drivers. Nobina’s main demand was a reliable system with cameras that produce very high image quality. The cameras had to be vandal-proof, able to handle difficult and changeable light conditions (both bright sunlight and night darkness), and able to produce sharp images with high recognition of faces and details from a shaky environment since the buses vibrate, make turns, and drive over bumps. 

Previously, the driver of each bus had to check whether the cameras were working by looking to see whether the lamp was lit red or green. After any bus trip involving an incident or suspected crime, the hard drives had to be manually retrieved from the bus to be able to provide the image recordings to the police. This process was not reliable, cost effective or environmentally sustainable.

Observit BOT is an effective system that makes it easy to install and manage a large number of vehicles and cameras centrally with a high level of reliability –24/7. The system continuously performs self-checks of systems, cameras and functions. All incidents are detected immediately when they occur and are reported to Nobina’s traffic control center. The image material is available to authorized users both in real time – even when the buses are rolling and in service – and in recorded form for later analysis.

“Axis has extremely reliable products of very high quality, and their cameras can handle all technically difficult environments. Not only is it easy to work with Axis products, it’s also very easy to work with Axis employees,” says Lars Flodén, CEO of Observit.

Almost all of the companies surveyed (97 percent) already have security cameras installed, which shows that they realize the importance of video surveillance. Around two-thirds of the companies surveyed currently have network cameras as part of their surveillance system. Over half have a hybrid system with both analog cameras and network cameras. A clear majority say they will consider having network cameras in the future.

86 percent of the respondents said that the most valuable use for video surveillance is being able to provide evidence in cases of incidents. Real-time detection of incidents also ended up high on the list in terms of the benefit provided by this type of security system (72 percent).

The majority of the surveyed participants are aware of video detection analysis for unauthorized access, the bypassing of barriers, unauthorized presence on the tracks, as well as smoke and fire. Between 12 and 25 percent of the respondents also make use of this analysis. About half of the respondents are interested in using these types of video solutions as well as solutions such as the detection of graffiti painting, left luggage and facial recognition in the future.