The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has begun a trial run for remotely monitoring school buses. This initiative, aimed at enhancing the safety of students, sees the interior and exterior of 10 school buses equipped with smart cameras, hi-tech communication devices and sensors.
The new system will enable the RTA’s Public Transport Agency to monitor activities in and around the bus in real time, as well as know the bus’s exact location.
What is being monitored?
With the help of this new technology, the RTA can monitor the behaviour of drivers, attendants and as well as students on a moving bus. The cameras will also take pictures of number plates of vehicles that overtake the school bus when the stop sign is open. Also, if the bus and other vehicles around it fail to maintain a sufficient distance between them, the violation will be recorded.
The system will also identify violations made by drivers such as failing to wear a safety belt or operate the ‘Stop’ sign when the bus comes to a stop to pick up and drop off students. The trial run will also clampdown on drivers driving school transport vehicles without an official permit.