The Partner: Chesapeake Public Schools
Chesapeake Public Schools, located in southeastern Virginia, covers 350 square miles of urban and rural roadways. Each day, the district transports 33,000 students across 420 routes using a fleet of 565 school buses.
Dr. David Benson serves as the Director of Student Transportation and manages the district’s entire transportation department, overseeing a vast operation that includes 600 employees. Eager to enhance student safety with new technology, Dr. Benson saw BusPatrol as the perfect solution to modernize the district’s fleet and keep students safe on the ride to and from school.
The Challenge: Traffic and Transient Drivers
Chesapeake Public Schools faces unique challenges when it comes to transportation. The district sits in the heart of the ‘quad zone,’ an area that spans four major cities and sees a high volume of daily commuters — many of them rushing through Chesapeake on their way to work
These circumstances led to an increased number of concerns from bus drivers, which David acknowledged. He highlighted:
“During my tenure, we have had numerous cases where we would have bus drivers in particular parts of our city, due to the dynamics of where the stop was located, who would constantly have concerns or come in with concerns that vehicles were running their stop arm. They had witnessed many close calls.”
The problem escalated to the point where Chesapeake bus drivers began noticing repeat offenders running their buses. David recalled, “When my bus drivers came in, they would recognize the vehicle, and it would be the same vehicle that had done it multiple times.”
Concerned about the growing stress on bus drivers and the risk of a student being hit by a reckless driver, David knew there had to be a solution to this critical issue.
Searching for a Solution: Limited Law Enforcement and School District Resources
David reached out to local law enforcement to request increased patrols at school bus stops to address illegal passing. However, with so many incidents occurring, the police department simply didn’t have enough officers to monitor every stop and deter all violations.
With the police department stretched thin and unable to monitor every bus at every stop, the district purchased stop-arm cameras for a select number of school buses. As this was a DIY camera program, there was no formal partnership with law enforcement. With limited resources, the district struggled to effectively monitor the footage or share violations with the police:
Frustrated by the limitations of the initial DIY approach, but determined to enhance student safety, David recognized that the district needed an all-in-one solution.
The Right Partnership: BusPatrol’s All-in-One Full Fleet School Bus Safety Program
After connecting with BusPatrol, David saw a more comprehensive program — one he believed could finally fix the issues his earlier systems just couldn’t. From improving driver behavior to boosting enforcement capabilities, Chesapeake was given the tools and support to solve their student transportation problems.
After equipping their entire fleet of school buses with automated enforcement cameras, the district no longer had to worry about the challenges posed by limited law enforcement resources when it came to monitoring school bus-related violations throughout the dense Chesapeake area.
“I can say that since we’ve had BusPatrol in place, we now have eyes on the situation at all times, and it has helped.”
Since the program launched, drivers throughout Chesapeake have become more aware of school bus stopping laws and have gained a better understanding of the importance of student safety. As David explained:
“That message is loud and clear in Chesapeake. I doubt you can go anywhere in Chesapeake and talk to anyone that won’t say, ‘If you run that stop arm on that school bus, you’re going to get a violation for that.’”
The program has also allowed Chesapeake Public Schools to formally integrate local law enforcement agencies into their school bus safety efforts — something that wasn’t possible under their old DIY camera system. This collaboration has empowered the district to effectively enforce traffic laws and prioritize student safety in a way that wasn’t achievable before.
Beyond Enforcement: Enhancing Safety Onboard the Bus with Interior Cameras
Stop-arm enforcement and changing driver behavior are crucial to the BusPatrol mission, but they’re just one part of how we support transportation operations for school districts.
As part of the program, Chesapeake Public Schools also gained access to interior cameras, allowing transportation officials like David to better address critical situations on board.
“The additional cameras that were installed both inside and around the perimeter of our bus became a huge operational advantage for us because we now have better video data when we have an incident that occurs inside of our bus that maybe creates a safety issue for children.”
These added safety features make traditionally chaotic situations far more manageable. As David explained:
“It’s completely changed our protocols for how we work an accident…literally within seconds, we have eyes on the scene and then we’re in communication with Emergency Management, letting them know. We’re able to handle emergency situations much more efficiently than we could before.”
A Partnership for Safer Roads
By partnering with BusPatrol, Chesapeake Public Schools are now better equipped to tackle the issue of illegal passings and protect their students. The safety program has enabled them to manage situations more effectively and engage the community in a deeper understanding of the importance of school bus safety.
Since the program’s implementation, Chesapeake has seen a significant decline in repeat offenders, an issue many drivers had previously highlighted. David remarked:
“One thing that I don’t see a lot of is I don’t see a lot of repeat offenders. So that’s a silver lining for me in that if it happens to them once they’re not going to do it again.”