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Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison, left, with BusPatrol...

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison, left, with BusPatrol America founder and CEO Jean Souliere and Terri Alessi-Miceli, president of the Hauppauge Industrial Association-Long Island, on Tuesday at the new New York School Bus Safety Center in Hauppauge. Credit: BusPatrol

A Virginia-based contractor that last year equipped school buses across Suffolk County with stop-arm cameras — generating millions in fines from offending motorists — now has a Long Island home.

Contractor BusPatrol America's New York School Bus Safety Center, located at the Long Island Innovation Park on Motor Parkway in Hauppauge, was designed as a hub for community members interested in transportation issues, and also signals the tech firm's successful launch of the cameras in Suffolk last year.

“This space is meant to be a community center for school bus safety, where all members from pupil transportation, schools, the parent community, law enforcement … can get together and share ideas on how to make the world a safer place for kids,” BusPatrol founder and CEO Jean Souliere said at Tuesday's opening ceremony.

Suffolk County partnered with BusPatrol on a $95,000 multimedia advertising campaign last month to remind drivers that it is state law to stop for school buses, according to Marykate Guilfoyle, a spokesperson for County Executive Steve Bellone. The county and the organization have also produced an educational video, which includes examples and footage from the county’s school bus violation monitoring safety program. Suffolk is also distributing about $1 million for school districts to provide bus safety education, she said.

Did you know?

  • Oct. 17-21 is National School Bus Safety Week.
  •  As part of National School Bus Safety week, Suffolk County spent $50,000 for educational ads, a spokesperson said.
  • BusPatrol founder and CEO Jean Souliere said an estimated 50,000 motorists illegally pass school buses on roadways in New York state each day.
  • BusPatrol said it is working on an expansion into Nassau County through partnerships with school districts in the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead, and the cities of Glen Cove, and Long Beach. "We have begun to finalize agreements with school districts in those respective municipalities," said company spokesperson Jason Elan.

The facility will also be the workplace for 50 BusPatrol employees, including 40 who were recently added, Souliere said.

In its first eight months operating in Suffolk County, beginning in May 2021, the stop-arm camera program generated tens of thousands of violations amounting to $12.1 million in revenue, Newsday previously reported.

Data for 2022 is not currently available, county officials said.

 The Suffolk County Legislature approved the camera program in 2019. Fines established by state law start at $250 for a first offense.

Since its inception, more than 70 Suffolk school districts have opted into the program, which has equipped about 6,000 buses across the county with the cameras. BusPatrol has since expanded into Hempstead Town and upstate Albany, Dutchess, Monroe and Rockland counties.

Revenue generated from stop-arm camera programs is split between municipalities and BusPatrol, which previously told Newsday it cost $27 million to install the equipment in the first 5,000 buses in Suffolk.

Souliere said the growth of his company in New York can be tied to the success of the program in Suffolk County.

“Almost 10,000 school buses are equipped with BusPatrol’s technology across New York State right now,” he said. “We expect that to triple before the end of 2023.”

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said the program came to mind as he dropped his own grandson off at preschool Tuesday and thought about how he’ll soon be riding a bus.

“This program is going to bring not just comfort to myself but anybody in the state that happens to put a loved one or a family member on a school bus and knowing that they're going to be safe going to their destination,” the commissioner said.

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