As noted by Reason, stop-arm cameras have been criticized for not delivering promised safety benefits, but they’ve nonetheless generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the companies that deploy them. And according to the report, BusPatrol now wants to turn those cameras into license plate readers. Instead of activating when a specific law is allegedly being violated, they’ll now reportedly be live at all times, capturing data on any vehicle within sight of a school bus that can then be sold to the law-enforcement agencies BusPatrol already counts as customers.
You can bypass this surveillance by not existing near school busses /s
FYI I’m a school bus driver and our buses are equipped with these BusPatrol cameras. Our director of transportation told me about the financial arrangement, which I’m not sure most people know about. BusPatrol pays all costs relating to the cameras and their installation. They then get all of the ticket revenue generated ($300 per incident) until the cameras are paid for, after which the company splits the revenue with the school district (my boss told me this is a 50/50 split but Google says it’s about 60/40 in favor of the company). The money that goes to the school district is further split (50/50) between the school system and the police department, who have the responsibility for reviewing the recordings and mailing out the tickets. The “until the cameras are paid for” part is interesting: according to my boss, the installation cost of the cameras for our 40 buses was in the neighborhood of $1.5 million dollars, which seems a bit improbable. $37,500 per camera?
The revenue these things generate has to be fucking enormous. I’ve had runs where I get passed by 10 to 15 cars with my lights on and stop sign out. The main benefit to me personally is lowered stress. I used to get genuinely angry at cars doing this, and I would waste time and attention span horn-blasting them (one time I even had a cop pass me like this, driving with one hand and looking at his cell phone in the other hand). Now I don’t give a shit, knowing that they’re (likely) getting a big ticket for it.
It depends on the directionality. Download a crusty old Miley Cyrus MP3 with a virus? Money goes to the RIAA. Huge mega-corp rakes their customers over the coals for years? The government collects the fine and keeps it.
You can bypass this surveillance by not existing near school busses /s
FYI I’m a school bus driver and our buses are equipped with these BusPatrol cameras. Our director of transportation told me about the financial arrangement, which I’m not sure most people know about. BusPatrol pays all costs relating to the cameras and their installation. They then get all of the ticket revenue generated ($300 per incident) until the cameras are paid for, after which the company splits the revenue with the school district (my boss told me this is a 50/50 split but Google says it’s about 60/40 in favor of the company). The money that goes to the school district is further split (50/50) between the school system and the police department, who have the responsibility for reviewing the recordings and mailing out the tickets. The “until the cameras are paid for” part is interesting: according to my boss, the installation cost of the cameras for our 40 buses was in the neighborhood of $1.5 million dollars, which seems a bit improbable. $37,500 per camera?
The revenue these things generate has to be fucking enormous. I’ve had runs where I get passed by 10 to 15 cars with my lights on and stop sign out. The main benefit to me personally is lowered stress. I used to get genuinely angry at cars doing this, and I would waste time and attention span horn-blasting them (one time I even had a cop pass me like this, driving with one hand and looking at his cell phone in the other hand). Now I don’t give a shit, knowing that they’re (likely) getting a big ticket for it.
It’s kind of insane that the fine for breaking the law goes to a company and not the government.
No argument here.
It depends on the directionality. Download a crusty old Miley Cyrus MP3 with a virus? Money goes to the RIAA. Huge mega-corp rakes their customers over the coals for years? The government collects the fine and keeps it.
Why not just have the school district/police department set up and host the cameras themselves and keep all the revenue?
Because it’s expensive.
Wait…
How are you supposed to do.that? They go to residential areas because their mission is to provide school transportation
Sorry, that was meant to be a joke reply to the original comment. I’ll add a “/s” to it
Wasn’t necessary imo
Never being in USA has worked so far.