MTA PUTS BRAKES ON BUS CAMS

By TOM NAMAKO, TRANSIT REPORTER

Despite this month's on-duty death of one bus driver and assaults on two others, the MTA conceded yesterday its plan to fit every bus with a security camera has come to a grinding halt.

North Carolina-based Integrian has gone out of business, and its security system had "all kinds of issues," according to Joseph Smith, a vice president in the MTA's bus department.

In 2006, the MTA said it planned to outfit 400 buses with the cameras as a way to reduce crime and help in law-enforcement investigations.

To date, just 272 of those buses have been equipped, and almost all operate in Manhattan.

The stall couldn't have come at a worse time.

On Dec. 1, Brooklyn bus driver Edwin Thomas was stabbed to death over a free transfer. Nine days later, a Queens bus passenger used a piece of glass to cut a driver's hand while stealing her diamond ring. Last week, another bus driver was robbed at knifepoint.

Smith said yesterday the MTA was "looking at" partitions to keep exposed bus drivers safe. And today, a joint committee of MTA and union officials will talk about potential solutions to the recent violence.