What to know about school bus-arm cameras in Buffalo

BusPatrol, the Virginia company that created and implements the technology, begins an awareness campaign Thursday with the City of Buffalo and Buffalo Public Schools to alert residents of potential $250 fines for any motorist who passes a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop sign extended.

A grace period for drivers begins July 1, when First Student buses transport students for summer school. For roughly the next 75 days, if drivers are caught in an infraction, they will be mailed a warning notice that includes a photo of their vehicle passing the bus. Fines will start being levied when schools reopen Sept. 12. They may be paid online.

Justin Meyers, president and chief innovation officer at BusPatrol, told The Buffalo News that the technology intended to improve child safety has been effective in 16 states and more than 400 school districts, as well as on roughly 33,000 buses.

Niagara Falls has used BusPatrol cameras since 2021. North Tonawanda partnered with the vendor last year.

“When a driver passes a bus with its stop sign out, it’s usually either an accident or a mistake,” said Meyers, who was born in Buffalo and grew up near Rochester. BusPatrol’s program “draws their attention to it, and then they’ll say, ‘I’ll make sure I never do that again.’”

Meyers said 90% of drivers who commit a violation do not reoffend.

Since New York State passed a law permitting school bus-arm cameras in 2019, Meyers said the following process has been in place: Municipalities choose if they want to implement a safety program, then select a vendor such as BusPatrol. School districts in the municipality’s bounds decide whether to opt in. Then the technology company outfits buses with the appropriate detection equipment. Following an awareness campaign and warning period, violators are fined.

“Be more cautious, pay more attention,” he urged drivers. “When (bus) lights begin flashing, you should think about stopping. It’s not a heavy ask.”

BusPatrol equips each of the 643 First Student buses with a slew of cameras, which Meyers described in detail. A fish-eye lens perched atop the bus can see the full length of the vehicle. Front-facing and rear-facing cameras show additional angles. Four cameras on the sides of the bus read license plates.

The cameras are connected to an AI system, called AVA for Automated Violation Analysis, powered by central processing and graphics units, plus a digital video recorder. It activates each time a bus stop-arm is deployed. When triggered, the system compiles an evidence package within 30 seconds and uploads it to a cloud server, Meyers explained.

Each potential violation is reviewed by two remote BusPatrol employees, then forwarded to the municipality to review before a violation is mailed. The violation notice will include a link to see video of the violation.

If a violator disputes the evidence package, he can appeal for a court date. Meyers said about 5% of violators appeal, and 80% of those who appeal are still found responsible. Repeat offenders pay $300 or more.

Neither the City of Buffalo nor BusPatrol were immediately able to supply data as to how common stop-arm violations are in Buffalo.

On a broader level, Meyers said a single school bus, on average, will experience a bus-arm camera violation once every four days. The rate is typically very high shortly after stop-arm cameras are introduced before a sharp drop-off and an eventual leveling out. Meyers said BusPatrol would be willing to share local data from the warning period before fines are forced out.

Meyers described the frequency of violations as a scale issue. It’s a “pervasive problem,” he said, because of traffic density around buses and their number of routes each day. He said offenders are “rare outliers” and noted there’s likely not a “rash of aggressive drivers in Buffalo.”

BusPatrol pays technology, equipment and installation costs upfront but recoups them by claiming about 60% of revenue from violations. There’s no cost to the City of Buffalo, which receives roughly 40% of the violation revenue. According to the original memorandum of understanding, the city is guaranteed to receive at least $2.5 million in its first year, even if its 40% does not reach that threshold.

Buffalo Schools receives no revenue but does benefit from a tool for student safety and an internal mechanism for an emergency, Meyers said. Each bus driver can access a panic alarm provided by BusPatrol, which allows them to send a text to a specific person – from a superintendent to a school resource officer – to view a live camera feed from the bus.

Buffalo Schools opted out of receiving six interior cameras that typically come free of charge. Meyers said he did not know why that decision was made.