--- title: "Tens of Thousands of AI-Equipped School Buses Now Automatically Ticketing Drivers Who Don’t Stop When They Stick Out That Little Stop Sign" description: "School buses are using AI-powered cameras to automatically flag drivers who don't stop when kids are getting on and off." date: "2026-11-10" modified: "2026-11-10" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore.md" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/bus-ai-cameras-ticket-drivers" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Privacy" --- # Tens of Thousands of AI-Equipped School Buses Now Automatically Ticketing Drivers Who Don’t Stop When They Stick Out That Little Stop Sign ![A yellow school bus is shown with its fold-out stop sign engaged.]() *Shutterstock / Inside Creative House* Finally, a use of the AI surveillance panopticon we can all agree on — maybe. As [*TechSpot* recently highlighted](), school buses around the country are now carrying small AI-powered cameras to catch drivers who ignore those little fold-out stop signs they deploy when kids are getting on and off the vehicle. In theory, the practice makes roads a little less perilous to pedestrians, though to be fair, there're still questions over its efficacy and privacy concerns. One company developing these instant-karma machines, BusPatrol, has already equipped around 35,000 buses with its cameras across 24 states. Once it spots an offending driver, it reportedly sends that data to a human reviewer who then puts together an evidence package for the police to look over, before a ticket finally gets mailed out. Its a niche industry, but one that seems to be catching on. Another company, AngelTrax, recently announced a partnership with the Idaho-based bus charter company Teton Stage Lines, *Local News 8* [reported](). Katherine Tolar, the vice president of operations at AngelTrax, claimed that 98 percent of violators who get caught never do it again after receiving a citation. "So we do know that its changing driver behavior," she told *Local News 8*. Another bus camera company, Verra Mobility, also [said in August]() that its data also showed 98 percent of drivers who receive citations don't commit another one, and that citations fall by 70 percent over a school year. Still, these are the companies' claims, and there're questions to be asked over how effective a deterrent the cameras really are. In Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, BusPatrol racked up 375,000 tickets and $92 million in fines, an [investigation]() by *Type Investigations* and *Bloomberg* found. But county records showed no evidence of a decline in collisions near stopped school buses, per the findings. Meanwhile, between 2019 and 2024, BusPatrol got to pocket about $40 million of the collected fines, while the county only kept $18.5 million. In a post-Flock age, any fusion of traffic cameras and AI surveillance systems will have people on guard. But as far as we know, rogue cops can't just beam into these bus cameras anywhere in the country as they could with Flock. **More on surveillance:** [*Menacing Surveillance Obelisk Appears in Madrid*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [Tesla Full Self-Driving Caught Ignoring Stop Signs on School Buses]() - [Failing Robot Cop Company Knightscope Now Publishing Bizarre AI Slop Fan Fiction About Its Robots Solving Absurd Crimes]() - [Burning Man Has a Meta AI Glasses Problem]() - [People Taking Down Flock Towers Are Becoming Folk Heroes, With Communities Circling to Protect Them]() - [USA Today Partners With Palantir to Gain “Actionable Intelligence” On Its Audiences]() - [Flock Is in Serious Trouble After Massive Backlash]() - [In Light of Overwhelming Backlash, Flock Cancels Creepy Audio Surveillance Feature]() - [Five More Cops Charged for Abusing Flock Cameras Amid So Many Similar Scandals That We Can’t Even Keep Track]()