The project's need
An akbil system was already running on Gerede Municipality's public transport fleet; but once fare collection was solved, one area remained impossible to record: what happens inside and around the vehicle. The municipality faced three concrete needs:
There was no footage after an incident. When a dispute, a fall or a damage claim occurred on board, all that remained was the parties' statements. The municipality had no objective record to vindicate either its own staff or the passenger.
Door and stop manoeuvres were not visible. Events at the door during boarding and alighting, and the vehicle's manoeuvre into the stop, were limited to what the driver could see in the mirror - a blind spot in terms of both safety and liability.
Driving could not be reviewed. How the route was being operated, and whether the necessary time was being spent at stops, was only learned through passenger complaints.
Why a professional in-vehicle DVR system was chosen
A consumer dashcam was not sufficient for this job. A public transport vehicle imposes constant vibration, a wide temperature range, power that is cut with the ignition, and continuous recording for most of the day. The project was therefore approached with a professional in-vehicle DVR (mobile recorder) architecture: recording is held not inside a single camera but on a central recorder fixed in the vehicle, with the cameras working as endpoints connected to it. Channel count can therefore be increased, recording duration planned according to disk capacity, and the failure of one camera does not lose the entire recording.
The general structure of the system
- Camera layer: Both interior and exterior cameras were positioned on the vehicle. Interior cameras were angled to see the passenger cabin and the door entrance; exterior cameras to see the vehicle's surroundings and direction of manoeuvre. Mounting points were chosen on rigid surfaces where the vehicle's own vibration would not degrade the image.
- Recording layer: All channels come together on the DVR recorder inside the vehicle. The device is powered from the vehicle's electrical system and starts recording and shuts down safely according to ignition state - files are not corrupted by a sudden cut.
- Monitoring layer: A monitor mounted on the driver console shows all channels at once in a split view. In addition to the mirror, the driver can also see the door area and the direction of manoeuvre on screen; this makes the system not only a recorder but also a live driving aid.
- Remote access layer: The recorder does not work in isolation from the vehicle's surroundings; it is connected to the centre. An authorised user can reach the vehicle's live view from their phone through the mobile application (APK).
Live monitoring: mobile app and central server
The system is not only a structure where "the recording is reviewed after an incident"; vehicles can also be watched live. There are two separate access paths, both connected to the same recording infrastructure:
- Mobile application (APK): Authorised staff can open the live camera view of the vehicles from an application installed on their own phone. This lets an official who is out in the field see the state of a vehicle without having to return to a desk.
- Server software at the centre: A monitoring program installed on a server at the municipal centre provides access to the same live view and to past recordings from a computer; the channels of several vehicles can be watched together on a single screen.
Our assessment: the real value of live monitoring is not constant watching but the absence of delay at the moment it is needed. When a report comes in, the vehicle's current state can be seen within seconds; there is no need to wait for footage to be processed or for the vehicle to return to the depot.
Making the record auditable
The value to the municipality lies in still having the record after the event. Because footage is stored with date and time, when a complaint or damage claim arrives the relevant time range can be located and reviewed directly. Footage is viewed only by authorised staff and only for the incident in question; the system was positioned not as a means of continuous surveillance but as a record consulted when needed. That approach was a deliberate choice for the privacy of both passengers and staff.
The benefit delivered
- Disputes are resolved with footage, not statements. On-board incidents, damage and complaint claims are settled against an objective record.
- The door and manoeuvre blind spot is closed. The driver also sees the boarding area and the vehicle's surroundings on screen - a direct safety gain.
- Staff are protected too. Against unfair accusations the driver also has a record; the system is not a one-sided monitoring tool.
- There is a deterrent effect. Visible cameras reduce on-board vandalism and disputes before they start.
- An installation built for vehicle conditions. Vibration, temperature and ignition-driven power cuts were taken into account, and a professional DVR architecture was used instead of a consumer device.
Working alongside the akbil system
In Gerede the camera system was installed as a complement to the akbil system running on the same fleet. The akbil side answers "which card passed on which vehicle at what time"; the camera side answers "what happened on the vehicle at that moment". Together they let the municipality reach both the transaction record and the footage of an incident under the same timestamp - a completeness neither system could deliver on its own.