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North Penn reports 840 bus-zone violations in March; majority approved by reviewers
Summary
District technology staff told the Safe Schools Committee that 840 alleged bus stop violations were recorded in March, 657 of which were approved; the PM run accounted for roughly half of reported infractions and several roadway segments produced the most violations.
Mr. Roan, a technology-department staff member presenting bus-patrol data to the North Penn School District Safe Schools Committee, reported that cameras and the review process logged 840 alleged violations from March 1 to March 31.
"As you can see, there were a total of 840 violations that came through the system from March 1 to March 31," Mr. Roan said. He said the tally has stabilized in the "700 to 800 range" after earlier months in the 500s. Of the 840 incidents, Mr. Roan said, "657 of them were approved and 183 of them were not approved." He described reasons for nonapproval including not meeting the vehicle-code standard or cases that were "a little too close to call."
The report identified the top locations where violations occurred: the 100 block of route 309, Swedesford Road and the 900 block of 4603. Roan also flagged time-of-day patterns: Tuesday was the peak weekday for recorded incidents and the afternoon routes accounted for about 49 percent of approved violations ("the PM bus route, is accounting for 49% or 313 of those violations").
Committee members and administrators discussed how the data could guide enforcement and prevention rather than merely increase citations. The committee chair (referred to in the transcript as both "Chair Acosta" and "Mr. Casa") and Dr. Bauer urged focusing resources on high-incident days and places. "If our goal is more safety, less tickets, does that mean that we then place more presence, physical police presence...at those times and days?" the chair asked. Dr. Bauer recounted a personal incident to underline the safety concern: even when stopping points appear distant, vehicles in adjacent lanes may not stop and students can be at risk.
Mr. Roan said municipalities and police departments already run traffic enforcement around school arrival and dismissal times and that some departments have specialized traffic-safety units. He also said municipalities share egregious violations and use social media and signage for education. The committee asked Mr. Roan to gather additional breakdowns, including repeat-offender data and whether citations were issued to drivers from inside or outside district ZIP codes; Roan agreed to pursue that information.
The presentation concluded with committee members endorsing prevention-focused responses and asking administration and municipal partners to consider directed enforcement at the high-incident locations and times.
Ending: The committee moved on to a separate agenda item after the bus-patrol update; no formal policy changes or votes on enforcement were taken during this presentation.
