ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Last year, the Allentown and Bethlehem Area school districts enlisted in a bus safety program that enabled stop-arm cameras to capture violations and ticket drivers.
But the program has been on hold this year in both cities because of legal issues with the 2020 school bus camera law.
- Legal issues with the 2020 school bus camera law have caused some cities to stop enforcement of violations
- House legislation overhauling the law is sitting in a Senate committee
- PennDOT says the program will end in October unless lawmakers extend it
The problems include that citations are a $300 civil penalty while traffic tickets are criminal offenses, and the appeals and hearing process is backlogging caseloads of district court judges.
Legislation sponsored by House Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, is in the Senate Transportation Committee and designed to iron out the issues.
“The issue we were having primarily was with the magisterial district judges,” said Kyle Wagonseller, executive director for Neilson and the House Transportation Committee. “There were issues where folks were trying to appeal tickets. But [magisterial district judges] weren't being responsive. They weren't scheduling the hearings, they were dismissing tickets without any evidence, or really not on any grounds.”
Wagonseller said that resulted in police departments stopping the certification of violations.
Existing program
State law requires drivers to stop 10 feet from a stopped school bus that has its stop sign arm out and its red lights flashing. The cameras capture a vehicle overtaking the school bus and the license plates.
The cameras are supplied by BusPatrol, a Virginia-based safety company that partners with school districts to implement the program. BusPatrol analysts first review information on potential violations and then send it to law enforcement to affirm or deny the infraction. If approved, the company sends the driver a ticket in the mail.
“A lot of police officers weren't certifying the tickets, because it wasn't worth the time to do so,” Wagonseller said. “Because there were so many cases of [magisterial district judges] just throwing out the tickets for no reason.”
Kate Spree, a spokeswoman for BusPatrol, confirmed the program in Allentown was paused at the end of last year because of legislative issues at the state level regarding the process for contesting citations. During the time the program was active, between August and December 2022, 2,390 tickets were issued for illegally passing a stopped school bus. Spree said September was the most dangerous month for students, with more than 750 violations.
"They need to put lives first, instead of bureaucracy, instead of paperwork.”Allentown resident Amber Clark
Allentown resident Amber Clark was part of a news conference around this time last year when the BusPatrol cameras were being installed in some Lehigh Valley school districts.
Clark had lobbied for more than a year for a state law allowing stop-arm camera programs after she and her daughter, Olivia, were almost struck by a car in 2017 while Olivia was boarding her school bus on the third day of kindergarten.
The law passed the Legislature in 2020, sponsored by former state Sen. Pat Browne, now a member of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration.
“I am upset that Allentown has stopped ticketing,” Clark said last week. “There's zero reason why they should have to do that. They need to put lives first, instead of bureaucracy, instead of paperwork.”
Proposed changes
Neilson’s legislation changes the $300 fine from a civil penalty to an administrative one. It does not assess points against driver’s licenses or affect car insurance rates.
Like the current law, $250 goes to the school district or the vendor administrating the program, described as the system administrator. The remaining $50 is split evenly between the police department reviewing the evidence packages and the School Bus Safety Grant program.
The new bill also changes the appeal process by adding an administrative layer before it reaches the courts. Someone wanting to contest a ticket would meet with a hearing officer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in person or virtually. An appeal of that decision would then go to a district judge.
Adam Reed, director of communications for the Pennsylvania State Police, said it was up to either the school districts or the police departments with jurisdiction in those areas to determine whether to pause the stop-arm camera program.
Bethlehem recently signed a memorandum of understanding between the Bethlehem Police Department and the school district that will allow city police officers to issue the tickets.
Mark Stein, the Bethlehem Area School District’s chief facilities and operations officer, said enforcement will start again this month or in September.
While the city was slowly ramping up because of legal concerns, citations were being written by the Colonial Regional Police Department and Bethlehem Township police — each of which has jurisdiction in parts of the school district.
BusPatrol's Spree said in the past school year, there were 867 tickets issued, plus 361 violations in the city of Bethlehem unable to be cited. She said the Salisbury Township and Catasauqua Area school districts’ camera ticketing programs are ongoing. An email to the police chief at Northwestern Lehigh School District received no response.
Another wrinkle is on the horizon, however.
While some districts are still using the program and Bethlehem is about to resume it, the PennDOT school bus camera program is set to expire on Oct. 24 unless there's a legislative extension, a PennDOT spokeswoman said.
Neilson’s bill would extend the program by two years. A two-page Senate version sponsored by Senate Transportation Chairman Wayne Langerholc Jr., R-Cambria, extends it by one year and makes no other changes to the current law. That version is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Senators are scheduled to return to session Sept. 18 and the House returns Sept. 26.
