Transportation officials are considering putting surveillance cameras in buses and subways, the Daily News has learned.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has been boosting security since the terror attacks, has been in discussions with a French-based company that is outfitting Paris-area buses with surveillance equipment, sources said.

"It's a matter of money, and we will have to find the money somewhere," said one transit source, who added that the program would start on buses and eventually expand to subways. "There are more than enough reasons to put them on there now."

Transit officials said the primary purpose of the cameras would be to deter crime and catch robbers and other thugs - but that they could be useful in the battle to prevent terror.

"We don't discuss security, but obviously we will do whatever is humanly possible to ensure the safety of our customers and employees," said MTA spokesman Tom Kelly.

Officials with France-based Thales, a security and technology firm, said they have had discussions with the MTA about surveillance cameras but declined to offer specifics.

Thales is rigging buses in Paris suburbs with digital cameras that capture images on computer hard drives that can be downloaded later for review. Global Positioning Systems, utilizing satellites, can pinpoint a bus' location in case of emergency, a company official said.

"This is for the general security for the drivers and the passengers," said Philippe Constant, a Thales marketing and business development manager.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 officials said that, after a recent attack on a Bronx bus driver, transit brass told them cameras may be installed in buses.

Local Secretary-Treasurer Ed Watt said the union would support any measure that could better protect drivers. But it has concerns about surveillance being used as a means to discipline union members unfairly.