The MTA plans to increase the number of city buses fitted with security cameras, The Post has learned.
Beginning in the spring, nearly 400 buses will be equipped with the surveillance systems, and if the program is successful, the number could grow to 1,150 buses, according to agency documents.
The project would be completed in 2014. At first, the cameras will be placed on buses along routes only in Manhattan.
Later, they will be installed around the city on what are considered the most dangerous routes in the system.
Currently, only one Brooklyn line has cameras; the exact number of buses is not clear.
A contract worth nearly $10 million will likely be awarded to a Florida company, UTC Fire and Security, to install the cameras. The equipment will cost about $18,000 per bus and images will be uploaded from the vehicle at the depots.
When the MTA tried to launch a similar program several years ago, the contractor unexpectedly went out of business and the plan fell apart.