11 Investigates: State keeps filing fee for bus camera tickets, private company reimbursing drivers

PITTSBURGH — For months, 11 Investigates has dug into a controversial bus camera program.

Now, we’ve uncovered that the state is making money off the program, even when a refund is issued.

From the beginning, we were told drivers who appeal to the district justice and win, get the $110 filing fee back.

>> 11 Investigates viewer complaints about school bus cameras wrongly ticketing people

But we didn’t know that the refund was being paid out by the private company that installed and operated the cameras, and the courts got to keep the fees.

Drivers who fought the $300 citations and won at the district justice office are beginning to get their filing fees refunded.

But 11 Investigates discovered that the checks aren’t coming from the judge’s office, the school districts or the police departments.

Instead, BusPatrol, the private company that installed and operates the cameras is covering the filing fees.

>> District justice raises concerns about school bus camera citations, lawmaker calls for review

That came as a surprise to State Representative Eric Davanzo, a Republican lawmaker from West Newton, Westmoreland County.

“If that doesn’t say any more of what’s going on then nothing does. Right. I mean why would they do that? It absolutely makes no sense why they would do that,” Davanzo said. He was unaware of that arrangement until we told him.

>> $858,559 in revenue collected in first 6 months of automated school bus camera tickets

Davanzo also voted against the legislation that allows cameras mounted on the side of school buses to catch violators.

“We have law enforcement for this. We shouldn’t be putting our school districts in the middle of this. I want the kids to be safe on a school bus, and I support safety, but this I just think it goes too far,” said Davanzo.

After our reporting, 11 Investigates received dozens of complaints from drivers who said they were unfairly targeted.

Some said the stop arm wasn’t even out and they received a citation.

>> 11 Investigates digs into people wrongfully ticketed by automated cameras on school buses

Others said they were waived through by a crossing guard or the school bus driver but still received a citation.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle took their concerns to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro who was in Mount Lebanon today for a news conference promoting “Main Street Matters.”

Earle: Is this a program that should be reevaluated or even stopped?

Gov. Shapiro: It’s something PennDOT should take a look at and we’d be happy to get you a comment from them.

As for the filing fees, a bus patrol spokesman told 11 Investigates that they agreed to pay the fees for drivers who win their cases so the school districts and police departments aren’t stuck with the bills.

So win or lose, the courts then keep the filing fees to cover costs and other state programs, like the Judicial Computer Project.

We asked State Senator Wayne Fontana, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, about that.

Earle: So the state’s still making out.

Sen. Fontana: I’d have to check that out and see.  I’m not sure that’s the case.

Earle: Here’s the breakdown. They get all that and they keep that.

Fontana: Yeah, we’ll definitely have to reexamine it. Yeah, without a doubt.

While Fontana agrees the program needs some tweaking, he supports it and voted for the legislation.

It’s personal to him. His wife was a crossing guard in the city of Pittsburgh.

“She almost got ran over many times, and the arm was out and the lights were flashing, and she was blowing her whistle. So, it goes both ways. right, and sometimes we go too far trying to control things, so as the governor mentioned PennDOT should take a look at it and see if it did go too far,” said Fontana.

Earle sent a list of questions to the Governor’s press secretary and he’s waiting to hear back.

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