Today, City of York Council officially opens its doors to showcase one of the most technologically advanced local authority CCTV control centres in the country.
The York Travel & Control Centre (YTCC) provides state-of-the-art around the clock coverage through 120 cameras including those at libraries and Park & Ride sites which are monitored 24-hours a day from the CCTV Control Room. It replaces the previous, much smaller CCTV service operated from a Control Room located at Fulford Road police station.
The service comprises a traffic management service, a 24- hour CCTV Control Room and facilities for the police and other third parties to review evidential footage.
As part of the council’s move to West Offices last year, the opportunity was taken to invest in modernising the CCTV Control Room and providing traffic management capabilities, utilising the digital connectivity offered by the council’s new fibre network
The total investment in the development of the YTCC has been in the region of £300,000, the majority of which has come from Department for Transport funding. Due to the new technology used in its development, the running costs of the centre will be similar to the costs of running the old, much smaller CCTV service operated before the move to West Offices.
As part of the development of the YTCC, the old dedicated analogue BT connections have been replaced by digital connectivity via the council’s fibre network, enhancing the system’s flexibility and opportunities for further development.
Along with partners CityFibre and Pinacl Solutions, York is in line to become the most digitally connected city in Europe by 2015 by extending its fibre network.
Already connecting to over 100 council sites, more than 60 schools and 120 CCTV camera locations, the network reach has been expanded to include St Mary’s primary school in the village of Askham Richard and a number of additional new CCTV locations, which are now benefitting from gigabit speed connectivity having been recently added to the core metro fibre network.
Cllr Dave Merrett, Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability said: “The York Travel & Control Centre brings together the various travel and transport systems which are key to ensuring that York keeps traffic moving, with considerable scope for introducing more active monitoring and management of the road network in future.
“Furthermore, we now have the potential to expand the range of other CCTV services we provide to all the users connected to the new fibre network. “
Cllr Linsay Cunningham-Cross, Cabinet Member for Crime and Stronger Communities, said: “The council provides an essential service for residents, visitors, businesses and emergency services that helps to keep our city safe. The new state-of-the-art technology will help to widen our CCTV services to cover even more of the city, keeping residents safe and protecting our communities from crime.”
For more information about the council’s YorkTravel & Control Centre please visit the council’s website.