Case Study

City of Calgary
Light Rail Transit system
City of Calgary’s Light Rail Transit system
employs Genetec’s Omnicast video surveillance
platform to keep passengers safe
In 1981, the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada opened the first leg of the Light Rail Transit(LRT) line for the city’s visitors and residents. Today, the LRT has more than doubled thenumber of stations, added two additional legs, and boasts around 95 million passengers
per year. The system is now commonly referred to as the “CTrain” and includes 38 stations
connecting 46 km of track. The three legs operate on 7th Avenue through the city’s
downtown area, and the resulting ten-station stretch in this high-density area is a Free Fare
Zone that reduces transportation congestion in the heart of the city.
Business challenge

End-user needs

When the CTrain system was first built, a CCTV system wasinstalled comprising a matrix of analog cameras transmitting
analog video to tapes, and eventually DVRs, which processed
and archived the footage. In addition to being technologicallyoutdated and providing a limited user interface, Calgary recently
determined the system to be at end-of-life, and concerns of system
failure caused key decision makers to seek a new solution.

In searching for a suitable replacement for the CTrain’s video
surveillance system, several qualities were paramount. Calgary
needed an open-platform system to maximize flexibility understrict procurement models, as well as a mature and proven piece ofsoftware that could easily integrate with their large monitor walland run across multiple work stations. The CTrain also requireda multitude of software configuration options and the ability toeasily scale the system as needed based on the addition of newtransit stations to the CTrain’s constantly growing lines.

There are inherent challenges to monitoring and providing safe
passage to CTrain’s customers. A transit environment is necessarily
fast-paced and must aim to ensure security without hindering
a timely travel experience. In addition, the disparate location ofvarious stations requires a system that can efficiently pipe data to asingle position to enable effective monitoring and evaluation of theCTrain system as a whole.

An IP solution was deemed most suitable, providing reduced
infrastructure costs for a system that would be spread across anumber of physical locations (i.e., stations), as well as increased
system security. An added benefit would be the creation of a robust
network. This would not only house the security platform, but also

Light Rail Transit System Of Calgary · Case Study

facilitate an evolution in the transit organization. The network would
provide a technologically advanced backbone on which all aspects of
the CTrain’s management could rely and interplay smoothly.
Calgary issued an RFP (request for proposal) to learn about
the options available. After evaluating Calgary’s needs and thedifficulties faced in a transit environment, Contava, a Genetec
Unified Elite security integrator, submitted a bid based on
Genetec’s Omnicast video surveillance platform. Following careful
evaluations, Calgary selected Contava to design and implement
their new security solution.

“Given the solution delivered in thisshort timeline, this has to be the mostsuccessful security project of all time.”
Perfect solution
Once the project was approved, the CTrain’s Omnicast system
was designed, the stations were retrofitted and cameras wereinstalled all inside of nine months. “Given the solution deliveredin this short timeline, this has to be the most successful
security project of all time,” remarked David Sime, Director ofOperations at Contava. Omnicast was installed as a stand-alone
video surveillance system within the Security Center, Genetec’s
unified security platform to provide a seamless user interface withmaximum expansion options, including potential for access control
in the future.
The CTrain system employs 471 Panasonic megapixel WVNW502S cameras with vandal-proof domes, which are capableof H.264 recording. An additional 23 Panasonic WV-NW964
outdoor-rated PTZ (pan tilt zoom) cameras round out the arsenal.
Panasonic WJ-GXE500 IP encoders with H.264 compression
capabilities are used where needed, allowing Calgary to savefunds by making use of existing analog cameras leftover from theprevious solution. The system is hosted on Dell R510 and R410
servers, which allow for distributed archiving throughout thestations, and feature a significant amount of recording capacity –30 FPS (frames per second) for 30 days for the whole network.
In addition, the downtown City Hall Information Technology
Data Center houses centralized failover archiving of video
and redundant directories, and the core network layer itself
is redundant and configured in a multiple ring architecture.
While the CTrain is open for business, three operators monitor
the system’s vast collection of camera feeds in real-time from acentralized location that features a two by nine array of 46-inch
bezel-less Mitsubishi VS-L46SM70U LCD monitors. Systemdata can also be accessed from the OCC (Operations ControlCentre) in Calgary’s public safety office to track operators, and law
enforcement can use this facility to request surveillance data forinvestigations. The system also has the capacity to provide offsite
video access to law enforcement for increased response time, andprivacy impact assessments are being conducted to investigate
viability of this option. Citrix access is set up to allow remote
maintenance of the system.

2“One of the major advantages of choosing Omnicast is its
flexibility,” said Colin Adderley, Project Manager and Engineer
at the City of Calgary for the CCTV system. “The flexibility inarchitectural design of the system has allowed us to minimize
single points of failure along all portions of the system. And theopen architecture allows us to use our ‘flavour of the day’ cameras
to accommodate vendor competition through different product life
cycles. Plus, the whole system is cheaper on a per-camera basis so
we can maximize our coverage with allocated funds.”
The Omnicast platform integrates with a number of othersystems to streamline the CTrain’s operations. Active Directory is
integrated to efficiently manage administration and organizationof user profiles; SNMP (simple network management protocol)
monitoring is also enabled, to provide an extra layer of reliability
by alerting both operators and Contava if any network connected
device experiences a fault or performance issue. Most importantly,
Omnicast has been integrated with the CTrain’s SCADA(supervisory control and data acquisition) system. The SCADA
system controls operator interaction with various events, often
mechanical, including movement of elevators and escalators, andresponse to station help phones. Integrating with Omnicast meansthat the SCADA system will drive alerts or requests via a serial todigital interface to the videowall and operator. Omnicast will also
respond to the SCADA system confirming video alerts have beenreceived, and allowing the operator to remotely control systems via
SCADA. This process is required by policy for civilian safety prior
to allowing action, for example, movement of an elevator.
Selecting Omnicast for their video surveillance needs has provided
Calgary’s CTrain with numerous advantages over their previoussystem. “It’s like apples and oranges comparing this solution tothe old system – you could say all of the features are new to theLRT,” said Mr. Sime. Since training has been completed, theplatform’s overall usability has proven priceless in assisting thethree operators with managing such a large system, which is usedprimarily to monitor public access to the space in real-time, as wellas documenting post-incident investigations when necessary.

Light Rail Transit System Of Calgary · Case Study

The map interface also allows operators to quickly and easily
identify where cameras are located, without cross-referencing acomplicated and voluminous data sheet. Video analytics have also
been integrated with the system, enabling automatic alarming toaid in monitoring such a large volume of feeds and to fine tune
usage of the High-Definition video streams. Additional analytics,
such as unauthorized access alarms, are under consideration for
future deployment.

Benefits
Since transitioning from the static and non-responsive analog
system, the CTrain has been able to find strategy “in just about
every direction, which is a luxury we did not have before,”says Mr. Adderley. “This, plus configurability and flexibility ofthe system, has transformed our processes for the better, from
hardware procurement to consolidation to granular permissions
configuration to performance measurements.” There has been
extremely positive feedback to the high-quality of the images
recorded by the system, as well as the ease of information
retrieval. This has allowed images to be employed for operational
observations, such as train arrival times or evaluating whether
interlocks are working.

“The flexibility in architectural design ofthe system has allowed us to minimize
single points of failure along all portionsof the system. And the open architecture
allows us to use our ‘flavour of theday’ cameras to accommodate vendor
competition through different productlife cycles. Plus, the whole system ischeaper on a per-camera basis so we
can maximize our coverage withallocated funds.”

Auxiliary strategies aside, however, the biggest win for theCTrain’s new system is the improved security it has provided.
Increased image resolution has been integral in assisting with
the identification of individuals who have committed crimes,
and the highly navigable system allows the images to be served
up to law enforcement in no time. A platform that yields thistype of reliability, certainty and response time is priceless to anorganization like Calgary’s transit system. It provides a sense3Light Rail Transit System Of Calgary · Case Studyof security to the public who see the effects of an immediately
responsive system and have confidence that the organization isequipped to do its utmost to keep them safe.
“We have seen large-scale Genetec deployments prove successful
in bustling international airports and massive shopping malls,
ensuring that the platform is proven and can scale well. Moreover,in our opinion, Genetec delivers this platform using the bestinterface for operators to view and manage live and recorded
video,” said Mr. Sime. “These two factors – scalability forenterprise architecture and usability – combine to create asystem that is not only perfectly fit for transit deployments,
but is also simply the strongest video management platform
available right now.”“Our staff works hard, and they takepride in the job they perform. The new
security platform enhances our ability tomake this campus safer and is a powerfulcrime-fighting tool.”

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