Stop-arm cameras on Thunder Bay school buses 'not feasible at this time': city report

The manager of Thunder Bay's student transportation service says city administration's recommendation that council hold off on approving stop-arm cameras on school buses is disappointing.

"It's a frustrating issue," Craig Murphy, consortium manager with Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay, said about drivers in the city who illegally pass stopped school buses.

"We've been tackling this for several years now and it's not getting any better," he said. "In fact, the numbers we're seeing is that it's actually getting worse."

Stop-arm cameras are mounted on school buses, and activate when the bus's stop arm is extended, and capture images of vehicles that pass by illegally.

In a report going to council on Monday, administration says installing the cameras on Thunder Bay school buses isn't feasible at this time.

"The images captured by Ontario Automated Enforcement programs such as Red Light Cameras and Automated Speed Enforcement are sent to the Joint Processing [Centre] in Toronto for review by Provincial Offenses Officers," the report states. "If a determination is made that an offense has been committed, Provincial Court Services locally processes a ticket that is mailed to the registered vehicle license holder."

Hundreds of incidents

However, the report adds, "The provincial Joint Processing [Centre] is not accepting School Bus Stop Arm Camera evidence for review at this time."

The only Ontario city currently running a stop-arm camera program is Ottawa, which has established its own processing centre staffed by police to process footage and issue tickets.

The city discussed a joint agreement with Ottawa, that would allow footage from Thunder Bay stop-arm cameras to be processed there; Ottawa police, however, are "currently not willing to process" evidence from another municipality.

A Thunder Bay police spokesperson confirmed the local service was consulted, and while it does support the stop-arm camera program, the service does not have the resources to operate its own processing centre.

Meanwhile, Murphy said, bus drivers continue to report increasing numbers of motorists passing them illegally.

As of Friday morning, bus drivers in Thunder Bay had reported more than 475 instances of drivers illegally passing them since the start of the school year, Murphy said.

"So we're averaging eight occurrences reported per school day so far this year," he said. "This is strictly a voluntary program for for bus drivers to report these instances. I am very confident that the actual number is much higher than that."

Thunder Bay police told CBC that 18 drivers were charged for illegally passing a school bus in November.

Westfort Coun. Kristen Oliver, who's been an advocate for stop-arm cameras, also said she was disappointed by the administration recommendation, but said she understands why it was made.

Oliver's frustration is with the province, she said.

"They've allowed for school bus stop arms to be applied to school buses, yet aren't providing municipalities with resources to make it become a reality," Oliver said. "I'm bringing a motion forward to council that we refer this back to the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee."

If Oliver's motion is passed, that will allow the committee to lobby the province to allow the processing of stop-arm camera footage at the Joint Processing Centre.

"It's just a matter of time before tragedy strikes," Oliver said. "I'm really hoping that the provincial government sees it that way and helps us get the tools and resources we need to move this program forward."

Another option, Murphy said, is allowing third-party venders to process the footage, which is common in the United States.

"The third-party company installs the cameras, maintain the cameras, process the the footage, secure the data," he said. "They do most of the work, and in return, every time they capture a violation, they charge the municipality a fee."

"But that fee is never more than the fine amount that the person that had violated the stop arm would would pay," Murphy said. "So in essence, the people who are committing the violations pay for the system, and it's not taxpayer funded in any way, not even upfront."

The issue, however, is Ontario's current regulations don't allow that to happen in the province, as the companies aren't able to get authorized requester status.

"Insurance companies are an example of an organization in Ontario that are authorized requesters," Murphy said. "They're authorized by the province to be able to go into ARIS, which is the authorized requester information system for the province."

"They have access into ARIS to retrieve driver license and driver vehicle ownership information."

Stop-arm camera vendors would also need to access ARIS to retrieve vehicle ownership information.

"Unfortunately, there's a bit of a stall with the government in recognizing these organizations to be able to have access to ARIS," he said.