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Case Study: Surveillance Cameras at Secaucus Junction

New Jersey Transit's new station finds other benefits in its security cameras

Greg Hull of the American Public Transportation Association isn't surprised that the benefits go far beyond security. "We've seen an awful lot of programs being implemented for security across the country, and the value we see doesn't benefit just us for security," says Hull, who is director of operations, safety and security for the Washington, D.C.-based trade group. "It helps us be able to deal with a whole wide variety of hazards, and these systems have a very significant ROI for mitigating against losses due to claims."

Going forward, the Secaucus Junction station is serving as a model for how future deployments at New Jersey Transit might look, as officials start to set standards around video surveillance. "A lot of [Secaucus Junction] was done with a handful of people's common sense, without policy, without a panel," Slack says. "The concept is very in line with what we're going to have as a policy and standard. We really weren't that far off."

But as it turns out, Secaucus Junction may be a model for a lot more than New Jerseyespecially with the heightened public awareness and heightened homeland security alert following the London terrorist attacks. The National Transit Institute's Kozub is confident that New Jersey Transit is doing all the right things to try to prevent a London-style attack, combining a cutting-edge surveillance system with rigorous public awareness and employee education programs.

"You need some pioneers such as New Jersey Transitwho in a more abstract way see and believe in the uses of these systemsto pave the road for everyone else," Kozub says. "It's through their progressive efforts that other people will be able to look at their success and make a case for their own agency."