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Brampton is planning to put cameras on school buses to catch drivers who illegally pass them, as it expands school-zone safety measures following the province’s ban on automated speed cameras last September.
“The stop-arm camera is something that we’re finalizing details on, but we’ve passed motions at the region and the city to implement,” Mayor Patrick Brown said in an interview.
The proposed cameras would capture vehicles passing a stopped school bus while its stop arm is extended and overhead red lights are flashing. They would target illegal passing, a different offence from the speeding recorded by automated speed-enforcement cameras.
Brampton’s speed cameras stopped issuing tickets on Nov. 14, 2025, after Ontario banned the technology. The city says it is installing enhanced signs at 141 school-zone sites, with flashing beacons at some locations.
Brown said the city is working with a school board and Peel Region on the initiative and did not give a launch date.
The city’s published road-safety update describes the cameras as an option it is exploring, without specifying an approved program budget, how many buses would receive cameras or who would review footage and administer tickets.
The city also reports 254 crossing guards at 200 school crossings, 210 Community Safety Zones and speed cushions on more than 150 streets. Its road-safety update does not provide before-and-after speeds, illegal-passing rates or student collision data to assess their results.
Regional Councillor Rowena Santos urged drivers to pay attention to students and school buses in a separate recorded interview.
“Be mindful of the kids who are crossing the street, the buses that are stopping, and most importantly, please slow down,” she said.
Ontario’s school-bus safety guidance says drivers travelling in both directions must stop for a bus with flashing overhead red lights or an activated stop arm on roads without a physical median. Drivers approaching from behind must stop at least 20 metres away.
A 2025 study published in Injury Prevention found that the proportion of vehicles speeding fell by 45 per cent while automated speed cameras operated at Toronto school-zone sites.
The study examined vehicle speeds at 250 sites between July 2020 and December 2022. Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) researchers reported that speeding rates returned to previous levels after cameras were removed.
The research “provides strong evidence about how effective these devices are in reducing driver speed,” Linda Rothman, a TMU professor and one of the study’s authors, said in a published university article.
“Speed is the single most important factor in pedestrian injury risk,” Dr. Andrew Howard, the study’s lead author and a SickKids surgeon, said in the same article.
That study evaluated speed cameras. It did not test Brampton’s proposed bus cameras or establish how effective the city’s enhanced signs would be.
According to a road-safety update published by the City of Brampton, its broader road-safety work is supported by $6.9 million from Ontario’s Road Safety Initiative Fund. The update also lists an application for up to an additional $27.9 million. It does not identify a separate budget for the proposed school-bus camera program.
It also does not say which routes would receive cameras first, how changes in illegal passing would be measured or when results would be made public.
Reporter, OTR, F2026.