DERBY – The Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen passed an ordinance Thursday that sets the stage for a private company to install cameras on school buses and collect fines.
The AI-powered cameras are designed to take photos and videos of motorists illegally passing school buses. The ordinance also sets up a procedure for collecting the money from any fines issued.
The next step is for the city to solicit bids for the service. Next, the Alders have to approve a contract with a company.
That company will most likely be BusPatrol, a company formed in Virginia in 2017. The company has been hired in Bridgeport, Danbury, New Haven, and Shelton.
A representative from BusPatrol has talked to officials at two previous public meetings in Derby.
The company provides the technology and hardware, installs the cameras, maintains the cameras, and collects the $250 fines on behalf of the city.
The company keeps the first $250 ticket issued by each bus. Derby Public Schools has 11 buses. The company then keeps $65 of each additional ticket issued, with the city getting the remaining $185.
The tickets are civil infractions, not criminal infractions. That means offenders do not face consequences such as points on their licenses.
At an Aldermanic subcommittee meeting Feb. 26, Derby Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway said an incident involving a bus from Bradley Elementary School underscored the need for cameras.
The video, which was captured by a home surveillance camera, showed a car passing a stopped school bus on the passenger’s side, as the bus was about to let out students.
The image at the top of this story shows the car illegally passing the bus.
“Thank goodness for the alertness of the bus driver,” Conway said.
Click the video below to see cars in Derby illegally passing school buses on Derby Avenue.
The Derby Board of Education endorsed BusPatrol’s program at a meeting Feb. 3. Click here for a Valley Indy story.
The images and photos from incidents are reviewed by two BusPatrol staffers. If both agree the evidence shows a “legitimate, high integrity infraction,” the infraction and evidence is sent to the city for review.
Humans in Derby also have the chance to review the footage before an infraction is mailed to the vehicle owners. Officials in Derby have to decide whether the internal reviewers should be police officers or civilians.
BusPatrol handles mailing infractions and processing payments from fines.
The appeals process will also require Derby to appoint people to a hearing board.
All these steps are scheduled to happen after Derby and BusPatrol sign a contract.
BusPatrol’s program is allowed in Connecticut because state lawmakers tweaked a law in 2024 allowing tech companies to team with towns.
Shelton issued 800 civil infractions during the first six weeks of its program. That’s about $200,000 in fines, with Shelton keeping about $80,000. Click here to read a story from The Connecticut Post.
At an Aldermanic subcommittee meeting last month, Brad Macdowall, a salesperson with BusPatrol, said that although revenue could be high the first few years, the money will drop due to the program’s deterrent effect. The program’s goal is safety, he said.
“We are going to catch every car that passes every stopped yellow school bus in the city,” he told an Aldermanic subcommittee in February.
Macdowall promised the program will not cost the city money, assuming the parties follow the terms of a multi-year contract. It takes about three years for the company to make back its money on installation and associated upfront costs.
“What I will say is that it is written in the contract that you never have to pay out of pocket,” Macdowell said.
BusPatrol’s technology is currently on 45,000 buses in 400 communities across 24 states, Macdowell said.