Medford Launches School Bus Safety Pilot Program

The reflection of School Superintendent Roy Belson is visible in the case protecting cameras mounted outside of a Medford school bus. New technology provided by SmartBus Live will capture drivers who blow through school bus stop signs.

– Allison Goldsberry

Medford’s schools are piloting a new technology to to deter violations of school bus safety laws.

The new technology, offered by SmartBus Live, uses cameras and software to increase the overall safety of children riding, loading, and unloading school buses. The technology can be used to address both traffic safety issues and student bus conduct.

“We think of the school bus as an extension of the classroom, and safety is paramount in both locations,” said School Superintendent Roy Belson.

“One of Medford’s priorities is and always has been pupil safety. SmartBus’ technology helps us to provide just that…safe rides for all students going to and from school,” said Mayor Michael McGlynn.

It costs nothing for Medford to participate in the pilot program. The city’s participation is helping collect data to determine how rampant school bus stop sign violations are, with the ultimate goal to support legislation that would allow the use of cameras to issue traffic citations to motorists.

“This data will be presented to the Massachusetts state legislature…Our hope is that legislation would be filed that would allow local cities and towns’ police forces to enforce violations,” said McGlynn.

According to information released by SmartBus Live, the video footage collected during the pilot program will not be released or used to issue tickets and is only being used to document school bus stop-arm violations.