New technology that can sense when a vandal is defacing a train with spray paint is being tested in Sydney, Australia.
The system, dubbed "mousetrap," has seen Sydney trains fitted with detection devices, according to an announcement by New South Wales Transport on Thursday.
It works by using an electronic chemical sensor that detects the vapour of spray paint and marker pens, before relaying live CCTV to Sydney Trains staff.
“Mousetrap is our latest weapon in the war against graffiti thugs damaging our trains. Vandals won’t know where and they won’t know when we’re watching,” Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said in a statement.
The system is being trialled across the train network and has already seen the arrest of 30 offenders.
“We know it’s early days for Mousetrap but its success has been in allowing Sydney Trains to move from a strategy of removing graffiti to one where we stop it as it happens,” Sydney Trains Chief Executive Howard Collins said in a statement.
Graffiti removal from trains in Sydney cost the state government A$34 million last financial year, and Sydney Trains says it is one of the top complaints from consumers.
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