Belleville has decided to take a close look at the Stop Arm Camera school bus program.
At its meeting Monday, city council received a staff report and comments from representatives of a Stop Arm company.
Kevin Whyte of Sutherland Corporation outlined how the cameras work, and the process of the fines to the drivers.
Whyte added, “The province issues ticket back to us, then we send ticket to driver. Ninety-five percent of people pay in less than 30 days, one percent goes to court. We can go to court.”
Whyte said his company looks after the installation of the cameras, and takes 50% of the fines levied through the Provincial Offences Court.
Council decided to establish an ad hoc committee, including police representatives to study the issue.
Council expressed interest in looking at the cost of the project, since the company gets 50% of the $490 fine and Provincial Offences Court takes a share.
The Stop Arm Camera captures licence plate numbers of motorists who violate school bus safety rules, it tags the date, time and GPS location, and downloads these events via wifi.
A staff report notes that the phased-in approach with limited deployment program, rather than equipping every bus, is an option other municipalities have used.
As an example, a six bus program was implemented in Ottawa and involved rotating buses on various routes, based on identified high occurrence areas.
Staff will bring terms of reference for the ad hoc committee at a future meeting.