Rochester City Council passed legislation Tuesday entering into a contract with a company that will install and monitor traffic cameras on school buses.
The vote was unanimously in favor of a contract with BusPatrol. One councilmember, Lashay Harris, was not present.
Once the cameras are installed, if a driver illegally passes a stopped school bus, they will be photographed and fined $250 to $350, according to the city of Rochester. BusPatrol will provide, install, and monitor the cameras, and it will take a cut of all fines paid.
Mayor Malik Evans said while fines would become revenue for city government and the Rochester City School District, that’s not the major focus for him.
“I just want to remind folks that we're not doing this for the fines,” Evans said ahead of the vote. “I hope that we don't collect tons of fines.”
In a Rochester Board of Education meeting last week, board Vice President Beatriz LeBron said the fines that would be collected should go toward student transportation for prekindergarten, after-school programming and summer school.
“I think it's an opportunity for the city and the district to also partner for after-school programs, even at rec centers, right?’ LeBron said. “There are lots of families who would utilize rec centers, but they don't want their kid walking home at 6, 7 o'clock, late at night.”
State monitor Jaime Alicea cautioned that there should be a study done first so the school board can determine whether there would be enough funding from fines to support that. Otherwise, the district would be responsible for footing the bill.
At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Councilmember Stanley Martin said that before the rollout of the bus cameras, there needs to be something like a public service announcement so that drivers are made aware that they should stop when a school bus has its stop sign out.
“I do believe some community members don't even know what to do in certain situations and, despite being well-intended, they still break the law,” Martin said. “And this is an opportunity to teach them in service to our youth and to keep our youth getting off buses safe."
The city of Rochester follows other Monroe County districts that have put similar programs in place in recent years. There are currently more than 575 school buses across several local districts that have such a program.
WXXI staff writer Gino Fanelli contributed to this report.
