Before the COVID-19 pandemic, work had begun to look into establishing a stop arm camera program with local school buses.

This is on the agenda for the Dec. 6 city council meeting, and if voted in favour would see a report from administration come back in Sept. 2022.

The purpose of a stop arm is to halt traffic in both directions when a school bus is dropping off or picking up students. Adding a camera means any violators can be easily identified.

The responsibility to implement a stop arm camera program falls on the municipality, though the city does not own or operate school buses in Thunder Bay. This will be part of the discussion on Monday, as for this to occur there would need to be a partnership between the city and private sector service.

The discussion has been initiated by Westfort Ward Councillor Kristen Oliver, who explains how serious the issue is.

“There’s been over 200 violations reported by bus drivers so far this year, so from September to November,” explains Coun. Oliver. “Typically on average, the school bus drivers are reporting eight violations a day. If we’re taking into consideration there is a school bus driver shortage right now, so all school buses are not even full-fleet on the road, that certainly signifies to me we have an issue here and it’s very concerning.”

Under the current system, bus drivers are reporting violations directly to police. This can be an issue as it is difficult for the drivers to track license plates in this setting, and often results in police being given only a description of the vehicle.

“Police are able to follow up on situations when there is full data and information to follow up on so car, colour, type, style, make, and license plate,” says Coun. Oliver. “When you have school bus operators essentially trying to get children safely to school, I don’t think it’s up to them to start recording license plates and car makes. They should be concerned with doing their job and not having to concern themselves with trying to record that information.”

In Sept. 2020, the province passed legislation that allows municipalities to install stop arm cameras on Ontario school buses.