(C) = Camera-Equipped Bus
If your child's bus route number is followed by a (C), it means your child is on a camera-equipped bus.
Continued Investment in Bus Student Safety and Security
We introduced the school bus camera program in the 2019-20 school year. There are 25% of NSTS routes equipped with internal-facing and external-facing cameras.
Niagara school bus operators contracted by NSTS made this investment for enhanced student safety and security and in consideration that school buses have one adult on board, the bus driver, whose primary responsibility is to focus on driving students to and from school safely. Both interior-facing and exterior-facing cameras provides another set of eyes to enhance on the bus and bus stop safety.
Parents, students and school staff can identify a bus is equipped with a video camera by the (C) following the route number. There will also be a sign on the outside of the bus in the second/third window behind the door and a sign inside the bus at the front. Bus drivers are not authorized to turn off the cameras, and as such, parents, guardians, students and schools may travel on a school bus equipped with cameras in the event a spare bus is deployed to cover a route and for field trips.
The motoring public adhering to the law is critical for the safety and security of students while boarding and unboarding a school bus. A stop arm violation, or failure to stop for a school bus when the red overhead flashing lights are on and the stop arm is deployed, is reported to the Niagara Regional Police with the video evidence.
Personal information recorded by these cameras is collected under the authority of the Education Act and in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. NSTS has the primary responsibility for the information gathered by cameras.