Cameras will soon be focused on commuters as they ride Toronto's buses and streetcars.

The Toronto Transit Commission began installing security cameras on all its surface vehicles — a total of 1,500 buses and 250 streetcars — on Tuesday.

The initiative is in part a response to a "terrorist threat lingering over all transit systems," said TTC commissioner Howard Moscoe.

The surveillance cameras are also expected to help solve crimes committed on the vehicles and prevent crimes in the first place, because passengers will be alerted to their presence with signs.

But Moscoe argues the federal government should be footing part of the $17-million bill to outfit the fleets with the high-tech security cameras.

He has put in a request for access to a $91-million federal fund for security in transit systems across the country announced in the summer by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"We think Toronto having the largest transit system will get a fair share of that," said Moscoe.

The first 100 buses will be equipped with the cameras by the end of the year, with the remainder of surface vehicles outfitted by the end of 2007.