More eyes soon will be watching Metro entrances. The transit agency has won a $2.8 million grant to add 153 video cameras to Metrorail station entrances and exits, Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn said Thursday.
The cameras, “very high quality” color models, will allow Metro and surrounding local law enforcement agencies to share the images, Taborn said.
In the past, the agency’s cameras had been inside the stations, not trained outward. The first exterior camera was installed at the U Street Metrorail station in 2006, according to Metro. Others were added to the Anacostia station. Then in 2009, Fairfax County and the District had paid for 20 cameras to be added to station entrances.
The new grant will mean that most stations will be covered, Taborn said.
The transit system also has cameras on rail platforms and fare gate areas. A handful of garages and parking lots have them, and the agency has been putting cameras in buses and MetroAccess vehicles.
Taborn said he expected the grant to be expedited so that the cameras could all be installed within six months.
