The no-cost program will send a ticket to drivers who refuse to stop for school buses.
The Perkiomen Valley School Board has voted unanimously this week to take part in the an AI-enabled BusPatrol program at no cost to the district, meaning drivers who refuse to stop for school buses face the consequence of being fined up to $300.
At last week’s work session, district Business Administrator Jim Weaver presented the program to the board, which was recommended for approval by the Safety & Operations Committee.
Request to participate in the BusPatrol program at no cost to the district. This item was reviewed and recommended by the Safety & Operations Committee.
“This is a project we had been working on for five years prior to the pandemic. It was slowed down for a number of various reasons, and it is positive public relations for the schools that move forward,” Weaver said.
According to Buspatrol, school buses are passed 17 million times a year in North America, but now a new AI technology will fine stop-arm violators in the district.
Weaver said the contract will put cameras in buses run by Student Transportation of America, the contracted company that provides bus service to the district.
“If somebody goes around (the bus) when the stop sign arm is deployed, it generates a process for a ticket. That ticket goes back to Buspatrol corporate headquarters, and then it comes down and uses our own originating number as the ticket bearer,” Weaver said. “The ticket gets sent to the individual who went through the stop sign, so to speak.”
The money from the fines, Weaver said, is divvied up, with part of the funds going to Buspatrol to pay for services and the remainder given to the school district.
“It’s not driven by an additional revenue stream for the school district. This is more along the safety of our students. This allows us to have much better, more coherent safety envelope around our buses,” he said.
He said the district would receive reports on a daily basis of certain areas where individual drivers are not paying attention to stopped buses.
“Buspatrol will help and assist us, so we get some positive community review,” Weaver said.
