Program places cameras on Philly buses to record motorists who illegally pass

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In a move to ensure student safety, the Philadelphia School District announced Tuesday that vendors had installed cameras on 20 school buses to capture motorists illegally passing while students board or leave.

“We are always striving to improve the safety and wellbeing of our students,” said Teresa Fleming, chief operating officer of the Philadelphia School District. “That is why I am excited to share that we are launching a pilot program that is designed to deter dangerous driving and support student safety.”

Fleming made her announcement at the Passyunk Garage in Southwest Philadelphia, one of two bus depots where the district houses its fleet of school buses. Buses with cameras on them were on display for members of the media and school district personnel to observe.

Under state law, motorists must stop at least 10 feet from a school bus when they are behind it or approaching an intersection when a bus has its red light flashing and stop arm activated. Drivers may not proceed until the red lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm has been withdrawn. The vendors, BusPatrol and Gatekeeper Systems, Inc., are providing the cameras to the district at no cost for the rest of the school year. Both vendors use artificial intelligence to direct the cameras, which take a photo of vehicles that violate state law, including their license plates.

For now, both companies will verify and compile the video and license data of violations and report weekly or monthly to the district during the pilot period, which will last until June, when the school year ends.

After that, the district will put out a formal request for proposal for the service. Normally, the violations would be reported to local law enforcement.

Each year, there are about 43 million such violations nationwide, according to a 2024 survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, endangering the lives of students traveling to and from school.

“Unfortunately, going to school is one of the most dangerous things a child does in their given day,” Justin Meyers, BusPatrol president and chief innovation officer. “Because of the fact that they need to cross the street and get on that school bus. Traffic safety is a tremendous risk to our school children.”

BusPatrol operates similar systems in 50 school districts in Pennsylvania, working with 100 police departments in the state, and about 500 municipalities and school districts nationwide. The system is financed by violators’ fines.

Nationally, the company reports a 43% decline in violation once a ticket is issued, which Meyer said shows the system can be a deterrent to reckless driving.

Jason Harris, Gateway Systems’ vice president of student protector programs, said the company historically has provided internal camera systems for public transit services, first responders and school districts, including Philadelphia. It has moved into external cameras for schools in the last year and a half.

In 2023, City Councilman Anthony Phillips championed the student pedestrian safety legislation that became law. This required the Streets Department to speed up the process of installing traffic-calming measures near all public, charter and private schools, due to the prevalence of the reckless driving and speeding by motorists near schools.

In March, Council stalled a bill introduced by At-Large Member Isaiah Thomas that would have posted speed enforcement cameras in some school zones in the city, with councilmembers saying they wanted more public input.