Drivers to be cited for passing stopped school buses
A long-discussed safety system is now up and running, with hundreds of hits so far.
North Penn School District officials reported Sept. 30 on “Bus Patrol,” a video camera system meant to catch drivers who pass school buses — and so far it appears they have plenty of targets.
“Quite frankly, many of them are very egregious,” said district Superintendent Todd Bauer.
Starting in summer 2022, district staff and local police departments have discussed “Bus Patrol,” a system of cameras and software that takes photos of drivers who pass a bus when it’s stopped, then shares that info with local police departments who can use it to issue citations. Camera installation started in 2023 on buses as the local towns signed on, and all local towns had signed on by the end of last school year.
During the safe schools committee meeting on Monday night, Bauer and Coordinator of Safe Schools Brandon Rhone gave an update, saying the Bus Patrol system went live in late August, after full installation on district-owned and private contracted buses.
"So far, a total of 606 violations were issued, since the first student day, and that data is as recent as Friday of last week," Rhone said.
"The violations are all for proceeding past the bus when it was stopped and boarding children, when the stop arm is extended and the children are either boarding or unloading off of the bus," he said.
Based on data shared by police, the majority of those violations happened during morning hours, Rhone told the committee.
"I would imagine some of that is maybe people are running late for work, and traffic may be a little heavy, and stopping and waiting for the bus to completely load and board, and students to sit, before our drivers release the stop arm," he said.
Drivers should know that unless there is a physical barrier such as a divided highway or median between their travel lane and the lane with a stopped bus, those drivers must stop even if a bus is on the opposite side of the road.
"Even if you are on (Route) 202, or some of our larger roads in our community, and the bus is way on the opposite side, unless there is a physical barrier or median you must stop," he said.
"I think we would all agree, and our community would agree, that if one child is hit, either boarding or unloading off of the bus, to or from school, that's one too many," Rhone said.
Bauer added that he and Rhone were invited by Upper Gwynedd police Chief David Duffy to that department's station "to come see what this looks like on our end," as those violations are filed and processed, and said he thought the high number so far was "concerning."
"The hope is that, through the issuance of citations, that number will dramatically decrease over time. And that's what the data suggests in other school districts — that when citations are issued, then they gradually trail off," he said.
"I'm not sure they will ever be zero, but everything we can do to help make the kids safer is the intent," Bauer said, adding thanks to the six local police departments for their help.
Board member Kunbi Rudnick asked for specifics on the timing between when a violation takes place and how soon the citation is issued, and Rhone said that depends on the department.
"In most of our police departments, there are at least two officers that are responsible for checking those incoming violations. So the officer will spend X amount of time checking the violations, and making sure it's a clear violation" before issuing a citation, which is usually sent within 24 hours of the determination, Rhone said.
Fines may vary based on the municipality, but can be as high as $300.
"We saw some where the (stop) arm was extended for upwards of two to three minutes, on a special needs bus where the student was being boarded, and the person just got impatient and took off. So the police departments are tasked with making sure it is a clear violation and not, in a sports setting, a bang-bang play," he said.
Board member Cathy McMurtrie asked for a breakdown of the funds received from those violations, and Rhone said the income is split between the law enforcement agencies, the Bus Patrol company to pay for the camera equipment, and the district. Committee chairman Jonathan Kassa said the Bus Patrol system combines with the "Here Comes the Bus" tracking app already in place to give parents a clearer picture of where their kids are riding.
"All of this combines many layers, for a much different busing experience than five or six years ago," he said.
North Penn's school board next meets at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8 and the safe schools committee next meets at 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 28; for more information visit www.NPenn.org.
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