Effective August 1, LMSD has made some changes to its busing policies. LM readers may already be familiar with, from recent assemblies, the revised late bus schedule; however, many may still be unaware of the other numerous changes. Uldis Vilcins, the LMSD Supervisor of Transportation, graciously provided much of the following information regarding finance and administration rationale.
Due to budget restrictions in the 2025-26 school year, all departments were required to identify ways to decrease fund consumption. Upon research conducted by administration members, the department identified most local districts do not offer late bus services; these districts include Radnor, Marple Newton, Haverford, Springfield (Del. Cty.), Garnet Valley, Methacton, Spring-Ford, and Council Rock. According to Vilcins, “[LMSD] didn’t want to eliminate late buses altogether, as that might limit some students’ ability to participate in extracurricular activities.” Vilcins went on to explain that research conducted by the department concluded that Friday had some of the lowest ridership compared to other days of the week; by eliminating Friday, half-days, and extra runs on testing days, as well as decreasing the number of runs per day (elimination of the 4:30 p.m. late bus), the department has been able to lower the transportation budget by $700,000.
Reactions amongst students at LM in particular have shown general disappointment towards the reduction of services. Affleck Lin ’28 commented that this new policy “[forces] students to leave at 5:30,” reducing flexibility should a student have other obligations, e.g., a doctor’s appointment. Many students involved in athletics have also been upset regarding the new policies, pointing out that reduced bus runs create more challenges to their involvement. LM Cross Country member Dylan Peppler ’28 stated, “[The new policy] limits opportunities for students to participate in activities,” explaining, “Coordinating pickups with parents at work is hard, and walking in the winter isn’t a viable option.”
In addition to changes in scheduling, the district has also implemented measures focused on improving the safety of school buses. Specifically, starting this year, LMSD, Lower Merion Township, and Narberth Borough have partnered with BusPatrol, a company specializing in AI-powered bus equipment, to install hardware on LMSD buses. Cited by both LMSD and BusPatrol, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services found school buses are passed illegally more than 45 million times per year in North America. Under Operation Safe Stop 2023, an annual state project monitoring bus-related traffic incidents, law enforcement authorities reported 176 violations in a single school day in Pennsylvania, approaching over 31,500 over the course of a school year. The BusPatrol system aims to reduce this number by installing cameras to detect any vehicle that may illegally pass a school bus. The data regarding the incident, including license plates, camera footage, and GPS, will then be sent to a “cloud system” where an AI model may detect violations and pass them on to proper human authorities. As per state laws, a first offense captured via school bus camera will incur a fee of $300, with zero license points. One can receive points against their license by violating traffic laws, which, when accumulated, can lead to legal actions such as license suspension. Since the violation would be captured via camera as opposed to an officer, it is classified as a civil offense, which yields zero points; a traffic citation given by an officer is considered a criminal traffic offense and can yield points.
According to a report from Patch.com, fees charged by BusPatrol to the district for technological services will be deducted from the revenue generated by violation fines. The fines from the first 169 violations will be given to BusPatrol, with all revenue from violations after that point split between the School Bus Safety Grant Program (a statewide grant to aid schools and related organizations in bus-related endeavors, e.g., safety and education), the Lower Merion Police Department, and LMSD.
Overall, in this new policy the district has most prominently eliminated the 4:30 and Friday late bus runs as well as implementing Bus Patrol surveillance across the district’s 135-bus fleet to reduce illegal passings. Many students feel these changes make it harder to participate in after-school clubs and athletics than in years before. Throughout the remainder of the school year, we will continue to realize what impact these changes have on students as well as on combatting bus-related reckless driving.
