The Challenge
Best known for its world-famous cable cars, San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) operates a fleet of about 1,000 transit vehicles and is the seventh largest public transit system in the U.S. In 2004, the authority initiated a retrofit of its light rail fleet, which included new onboard video surveillance systems. Muni wanted the new DVR systems to be purpose-built to withstand its rugged environment, able to record two audio channels, and able to produce manageable file sizes for video streaming. The systems also had to provide an automated wireless download capability for enhanced accessibility.

The Solution
According to Muni's mobile division video maintenance supervisor, March Networks was the only manufacturer that could offer an automated wireless download capability with its ruggedized 5308 Mobile DVR (MDVR) systems. Now installed on Muni's light rail fleet, as well as some of its buses, the MDVRs enable the authority to schedule video downloading over its wireless network when vehicles enter a central yard. Employees also stream video from the onboard systems from a central location as part of a preventative maintenance program and use the video to help investigate reported incidents.