Greater Clark County Schools rolls out AI-powered dash cameras on school buses

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) — Artificial Intelligence impacts students in countless ways, and now it's monitoring school buses.

Greater Clark County Schools rolled out AI dash cameras on 12 buses to start the new school year. If it notices anything, such as hard braking or distracted driving, it alerts officials within seconds.

"You've got another bus monitor watching you," said Daniel Borders, director of transportation for GCCS. "Big brother's watching you."

Hours after the dash cameras went live, Borders got his first alert. It showed a bus driver braking abruptly after a student's outburst.

"The sweet young lady yelled at him and pointed that that was her stop," Borders said. "The bus was safe, but it was pretty funny that was the first time we got an alert for that."

Borders said he got the clip of the interaction automatically uploaded to the cloud less than a minute after it happened.

The camera turns on as soon as the ignition starts and stops rolling five minutes after the engine turns off. It detects when someone is too close to the bus, sudden acceleration, rapid braking and distracted driving.

"We get instant alerts if we've got a cyclist or if we've got a kid that's too close to the bus," Borders said. "It actually shows if somebody pulls out in front of one of our drivers. We get an instant alert any time there's a safety issue."

Even if there isn't an alert, Borders can go back through the footage. He said this could be useful after bus fights and other chaos.

"We can actually have that video downloaded and sent to the principal before the bus ever pulls in the parking lot," he said.

Borders believes the cameras automatically store three to four days worth of video. GCCS officials can choose to save specific clips for 90 days.

Borders said the devices can only detect movement.

"There's no AI detection as far as facial recognition," he said. "The only reason we even save any videos is if it has the license plate on it for someone who passes our stop arm."

Installing the equipment didn't cost the district a dime. However, there's a monthly fee of $13.95 per bus for the service.

Borders hopes to have the system installed on all 149 GCCS school buses by the end of the school year.

"We want something that works, that's efficient and provides safety," Borders said. "Our whole slogan here is safety with a smile, and that's what we strive for."