Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – A project that began more than a year ago is nearing completion as almost half of the Warren County School District’s buses have been outfitted with BusPatrol cameras.
The WCSD entered into the agreement with BusPatrol, a company whose goal is to “make the journey to and from school safer,” in September 2020.
“It is very exciting to have the cameras coming onto the buses and going live,” WCSD Director of Transportation Mike Kiehl said. “It has been a very long process. This system is new in Pennsylvania so it has taken some time to get everything through legislation but we are excited to be at the forefront of this safety initiative.”
At last count, the district had approximately 50 percent of buses fully installed.
“We’re at about 40 right now,” BusPatrol Installation Project Manager David Caruso said. “We’re probably going to do 11 today (Wednesday). We had a good catch-up day yesterday.”
The expectation is all WCSD buses will have both internal and external cameras installed by the end of the month.
“We are on pace to be done by Jan. 26,” Kiehl said. “That’s about three weeks to install all 80-plus buses with complete camera systems.”
The only ones who may be more excited than Kiehl that the project is near completion, are the drivers.
“The bus drivers are very excited,” Kiehl said. “They have struggled to try to get license plate numbers in the past when these things have happened. They are also excited about the internal cameras to help with any discipline issues that we may have on the bus.”
If a car fails to stop for a bus with lights flashing and stop arm extended, the cameras mounted near the top of the bus will record the vehicle itself and trigger a secondary camera on the side of the bus to take a photo of the license plate. That information, once confirmed by BusPatrol, will be sent to the proper law enforcement agency to contact the registered owner of the vehicle.
BusPatrol’s mission is to “create a culture of responsibility and awareness on the road. We aim to make the journey to and from school safer,” according to its website. “Through educating drivers and correcting behavior through stop-arm enforcement, we can see a day where there are no illegal passings on the road.”
That safer journey comes at no cost to the district.
According to the agreement between the district and BusPatrol, fees “will be paid from the civil penalties collected from the operation of the BusPatrol System, as provided for by the Stop Arm Law.”
For each $300 fine, local law enforcement and the Pennsylvania School Bus Safety Grant Program Account will each receive $25, the district will get $100 and $150 will go to BusPatrol for installation and maintenance of its equipment.
Far from a money-making venture, the district’s primary aim is to educate drivers, young and old alike, about their responsibility around school buses.
“It was never one of our objectives to go out and have people be cited,” WCSD Superintendent Amy Stewart said. “Our goal is to make sure our environments around our bus pickups are safer for kids. The more education that we can do, that’s a very positive thing.”
Stewart added that one of the most common questions she gets from the public is what to do in certain scenarios when bus lights are flashing.
“We want to make sure our student drivers, community members all know what to do because the goal is to not have anybody running those reds,” Stewart said.
The district fields approximately a dozen calls each month from bus drivers or community members reporting motorists who have failed to stop for a bus with red lights flashing and stop arm extended. Though new to Pennsylvania, BusPatrol has had success in other states in helping curb that behavior.
“Ninety-eight percent of people that get a ticket once don’t get it again, it’s a big, big deterrent,” BusPatrol Program Manager Ray Winslow said.
“This is a system that does change driver behavior,” Kiehl said.
Kiehl said one of the internal cameras had already been utilized to deal with a vaping incident on one of the buses.
“The kids are going to know that we have cameras on the bus, there is a sign posted that they are under video and audio surveillance,” Kiehl said. “And from watching a little footage already the kids are pointing out the cameras as they get on the bus. We do hope it is going to improve student behavior and we are excited to have the video evidence if there are issues on the bus. Video surveillance has already caught one student vaping on the bus.”
