Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ controversial school bus camera ticketing program relaunched last May after a yearlong hiatus, and now we know how much the school district made in the final weeks of school — and where drivers were getting cited the most.
The school bus stop-arm cameras issued 7,902 citations of $225 each between May 18 and the last day of school on June 4, according to records obtained by the Miami Herald — a total of nearly $1.8 million in tickets to drivers. The data covered May 18 through July 15 and during the period after school was out, when school buses travel much less frequently, about 2,000 more people were cited. The total amount in citations issued from May 18 to July 15 exceeded $2.2 million.
The school bus safety program — a collaboration between the school district, the sheriff’s office and a private company called Bus Patrol — started in May 2024 when Bus Patrol installed camera systems on the district’s fleet of school buses to catch drivers illegally passing stopped school buses with extended stop arms. In the first six months, more than 100,000 notices of violation were issued to drivers…