Fake BART Cameras Not Getting Replaced Until 2017
OAKLAND (KCBS) -- BART said it would immediately start replacing fake train cameras with real ones, but retrofitting the old cars isn't as easy as expected.
In February, BART said it would start replacing the decoy cameras with real ones after a 19 year old was shot and killed aboard a train at the West Oakland station with no video evidence.
But now according to KQED, retrofitting the old cars will take a lot more effort than the agency thought it would.
BART said they need special wiring for four different kinds of cars - like fixing a cassette tape player in the iPod age.
"We are responding, and we're gonna get rid of those decoys," BART Spokesperson Alicia Trost said.
It's just excuses says Eastbay State Senator Steve Glazer, who has been a long time BART critic.
"They said they were going to replace these cameras immediately, and six months later, they have excuses, and they're claiming it can't happen until 2017," Glazer said.
BART says it is spending $1.4 million on new cameras. The BART board is slated to vote on buying them in the fall, but it will take a year to get them all installed.
Meanwhile the first shipment of new cars is set to arrive next year and they will be equipped with live video capability.
