BusPatrol today announced plans to host the first-ever School Bus Safety Summit in partnership with the New York Association for Pupil Transportation on Thursday, May 11, from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Mansion at Timber Point in Suffolk County.
The summit will bring together a coalition of safety advocates that include school officials, local law enforcement, school bus operators, and community stakeholders to discuss best practices around school bus safety and solutions to improve roadway safety to further protect students.
The conference will include a breakfast and feature networking opportunities followed by two-panel discussions on how to best leverage data to make our roads safer and engage communities in the process.
Steve Randazzo, Executive Vice President of BusPatrol America, said: “BusPatrol is doubling down on its commitment to making Long Island a safer place for our students. By fostering a constructive dialogue among a wide range of stakeholders we can develop a comprehensive approach to address the public safety crisis of illegal school bus passings across the state.”
State Senator Timothy M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Committee on Transportation, will serve as the keynote speaker. Senator Kennedy previously sponsored legislation to authorize municipalities and school districts to install safety cameras on school buses to catch drivers who unlawfully pass a stopped school bus and jeopardize student safety.
Since that legislation was signed into law in 2019, almost 7,000 New York school buses have been equipped with this lifesaving technology to curb illegal motorist behavior, protecting more than 350,000 students.
“These dialogues are key to developing policy that not only strengthens student safety but enhances New York’s roadways and those who use them every day,” said Senator Tim Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “While we have taken significant steps to improve and prioritize our transportation sectors, we’re always identifying new opportunities to invest in public safety and accessibility. I’m eager to see this summit examine the challenges that persist statewide and generate collaborative solutions.”
More details on participants and panelists for the Summit will be announced in the coming weeks. Businesses or associations interested in serving as a sponsor for the event and learning more information can visit here.
BusPatrol is the leading provider of school bus stop-arm enforcement programs on Long Island. The City of Long Beach, the Town of North Hempstead, and the City of Glen Cove have awarded BusPatrol to serve as the vendor for their respective school bus safety programs. Meanwhile, the Town of Hempstead was the first municipality in Nassau County to launch its own school bus safety in partnership with BusPatrol.
Other municipal partnerships across the state include Albany County, Suffolk County, Dutchess County, Rensselaer County, and, most recently, Rockland County. In addition, several awarded contracts are expected to launch this year.
“With more than 223,000 K-12 students in Suffolk County, keeping each child safe while they are getting on and off of a school bus continues to remain a top priority,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Through the County’s school bus safety program, we are working to change driver behavior and in less than two year’s time, we have seen a drastic decrease in the number of cars illegally passing a stopped school bus. Continuing to educate drivers on the dangers of passing a school bus through summits like this will continue to lead to safer roads for all.”
David Christopher, Executive Director of the New York Association of Pupil Transportation, said: “NYAPT has been at the forefront of addressing the illegal passing issue for many years. Our annual surveys have shown over 50,000 illegal passings happen each school day and data from stop-arm camera programs are showing us that those survey numbers may be low.
Passing a stopped school bus as children are boarding or disembarking the bus threatens the safety of the children that our bus drivers are entrusted to transport to and from school daily. We ask all partners in safety to work with us to address this issue so our children are safe as they travel to and from school. The BusPatrol/NYAPT Safety Summit will help bring attention to the problem and provide solutions for the future to keep our children safe.”