That’s because the Miami-Dade Police Department — in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and a Virginia-based private company called BusPatrol — will officially launch a new initiative that uses cameras and artificial intelligence on the buses to enforce the law.
In Florida, like all other states, it’s illegal to go around a stopped school bus that has flashing red lights and an extended stop-arm while picking up or dropping off students. Drivers must slow down when buses light up yellow and completely stop when they turn red, about 15 feet behind the bus to give students space to walk.
“Today is a special day for Miami-Dade County as it relates to highlighting an enhancement to our number one priority which is safety,” said Luis Diaz, the school district’s chief operating officer, at a press conference held Tuesday morning at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in North Miami Beach.
BusPatrol, which opened an office in Wynwood, started working with local officials about a year ago, after the state legislature approved a law that legalized stop-arm enforcement technology.
The company, founded in 2017, installed the equipment on every single public school bus in Miami-Dade — about 1,000 — for a cost of about $10,000 each, adding up to a total $10 million. BusPatrol didn’t charge the district anything upfront, but will later collect half of all of the money collected in fines, said Steve Randazzo, the company’s chief growth officer.
“It’s the largest student safety initiative for school buses in Florida history,” Randazzo said.
THE FINANCIALS, DETAILS BEHIND THE SAFETY PROGRAM
Each MDCPS bus got up to four cameras inside to monitor bullying, fights and other issues, up to eight cameras outside to catch driving offenders, an artificial intelligence program called Ava that syncs with the bus, and a panic button for drivers to alert district officials of any emergency.
The number of cameras depends on the bus’s route, but each high-resolution lens can detect license plates as far as eight lanes of traffic away, Randazzo said.
The district will never be liable for the total installation cost of $10 million, but the five-year contract specifies that the district will split about half of the money collected from each fine with BusPatrol, Randazzo said. In exchange, the company installed the technology and will provide maintenance.
For the past month, since April 8, law enforcement have been mailing warnings to offenders, alerting them of the new program. They sent a total of more than 10,000 warnings to drivers. If those would’ve been fines, that would add up to about $2 million.
HOW DOES THE BUS CAMERA TECHNOLOGY WORK EXACTLY?
The bus cameras start recording as soon as the bus slows down. Ava, BusPatrol’s artificial intelligence system, flags potential infractions so law enforcement officers can review them. Officers can then issue a notice of violation via mail if needed.
That process usually takes about a week — sometimes longer, but no longer than 30 days, Randazzo said.
Drivers can enter the identifying number and their license plate online to watch the video of their infraction on AlertBus, BusPatrol’s violation management portal. They can pay it online.
If they want to contest it, they may do so in traffic court. If they don’t contest it or pay the $200 in 30 days, they get a uniform traffic citation and could ultimately lose their license.
If the owners of the car weren’t driving and want to redirect the fine to someone else, they can submit a notarized affidavit stating so.
WHY POLICE, SCHOOL OFFICIALS LIKE IT
Police officers like the program because it’s another tool, said Federico Lopez, a motorcycle unit officer with the special patrol bureau in Miami-Dade Police Department.
When tested against the trained human eye, Ava proved to be about 30 percent more effective, Randazzo said.
And although the fine always remains $200 no matter how many times you break the law, more than 90 percent of the drivers who receive a violation never get a second one, he said.
The artificial intelligence can also record data on the hot spots so officers can patrol those areas more heavily.
“We’re not omnipresent. We can’t be everywhere at once,” Lopez said. “So this allows us to do our jobs better and keeps students safer.”
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