Madrid Bus Station South is the busiest bus station in Spain, servicing 1,500 domestic destinations and another 500 throughout Europe and Morocco. Operating 22 hours a day, 365 days a year while handling 20 million people, it is impossible to have no incidents occur. Thus, the security team’s objective was to constantly gather visual evidence of everything happening at the station in order to identify individuals involved in incidents.
Mission
Madrid Bus Station South is the busiest bus station in Spain, servicing 1,500 domestic destinations and another 500 throughout Europe and Morocco. It is owned by Madrid Town Hall and for the past 17 years has been managed by Avanza, an ADO company, and a leader in mobility and bus station operation.
Operating 22 hours a day, 365 days a year while handling 20 million people, it is impossible to have no incidents occur. Thus, the security team’s objective was to constantly gather visual evidence of everything happening at the station in order to identify individuals involved in incidents.
A makeover of the station began in 2014 and security systems were updated. A new control center and emergency evacuation facilities were created, and docking areas were closed off to enhance the safety of travelers boarding the buses.
Solution
The station’s Security Department works in conjunction with state Security Authorities and also relies on the consulting and systems integration services of Segur Group. After discussion with the Director of Security, the group suggested the installation of IP cameras from
Axis Communications running Herta Security facial recognition software.
As part of these improvements, Segur Group suggested migration in phases to an IP video surveillance system – and the use of cameras from Axis Communications – for the deployment of a facial recognition system running BioSurveillance NEXT software from Herta Security specially designed to immediately identify subjects in a multitude of environments and while in motion.
In order to find the proper balance between overall and detailed views, it was necessary to change the location of multiple cameras. By lowering their positions and narrowing their angles of view, it was found that in the south area of the building shiny floors and large windows created heavy lighting contrast, hotspots and harsh backlighting that hindered identification. Thus, the decision was made to use IP cameras with Full-HD resolution that were designed for demanding environments.
Result
As a result of these improvements, the security of the station and its users has increased. The number of incidents has been reduced from five per day to just five per month. In addition, they have streamlined collaboration with Security Authorities and are able to provide them with the information and images needed to complete investigations generated by incidents at the station.
With unique capabilities such as delivering 60 fps, corridor view (9:16) and true color, security personnel have managed to overcome many of the difficulties they had encountered with other cameras. The functionality delivering the most impact has been Wide Dynamic Range - Forensic Capture, allowing the cameras to respond instantaneously to changing light conditions at the scene and render everything happening in sharp detail. As a result of the cameras’ image quality, the facial recognition system responds precisely even with partial concealment of a face, changing facial expressions and moderate rotation. Presently, the accuracy level is greater than 99 percent.
The integration of a facial recognition system, collaboration with state Security Authorities and the sharing of database information have resulted in a significant reduction in the number of incidents and an improvement in the overall level of security
Product Adopted:Surveillance Cameras