Photo radar rollout put on hold as drivers speed through empty Toronto streets
It took years for city officials to get photo radar on Toronto streets, but the many motorists speeding through the unusually empty roads need not worry about a pricey ticket arriving in the mail.
City officials confirmed to the Star the "automated speed enforcement" program is on hold as part of a suspension of non-essential city services while Mayor John Tory helps lead the emergency response to COVID-19.
Tory requested provincial approval for photo radar in 2016. Amid record numbers of pedestrian deaths on Toronto streets, Premier Doug Ford's government approved use of the technology last year.
In December, the city started installing cameras at 50 locations across Toronto. The province stipulated warning signs had to be in place for 90 days before tickets from the sites could be issued.
Toronto has mailed drivers more than 25,000 warning letters, but no letters are going out now.
While public health officials' pleas for people to work from home and venture out only when necessary has dramatically thinned traffic, some drivers are using the absence of gridlock to put the pedal to the metal.
Police saw a 35-per-cent spike in officer-issued speeding tickets between March 15 and March 31, and issued almost double the number of stunt driving tickets - usually 50 km/h or more above the limit - over the same period last year.
"We understand from city staff that the (automated speed enforcement) joint processing centre was deemed non-essential and was closed when the pandemic emergency began," Tory spokesperson Don Peat said in an email Tuesday.
"Right now, the mayor is focused on fighting COVID-19 in Toronto, urging people to stay home as much as possible, stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives."
Tory has told city staff he wants the processing centre reopened and photo radar tickets to start being mailed out "as soon as possible," Peat added.
On Wednesday, city staff issued a news release with Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city's public health chief, that notes the speeding surge and urges motorists to stay home for all but essential travel.
Toronto police's "Vision Zero" enforcement team, reconstituted last year after a report revealed a surge in fatal accidents years after a similar squad was disbanded, will this week begin rotating shifts across the city to catch speeders.
Red light cameras continue to operate and trigger tickets, the news release states.
Driving app Waze is reporting a global plunge in traffic, including a 70-per-cent drop in kilometres driven by Toronto users since Tory's March 23 emergency declaration.
Jessica Spieker, spokesperson for Friends and Families for Safe Streets, said her group was disappointed to learn photo radar has been deemed non-essential.
"The dangerous driving behaviour enabled and induced by our poor infrastructure design and scarce enforcement has only gotten worse," she said, "and the risk of horrendous injury and death to the vulnerable road users who are struck is thereby increasing.
"In that light, the need for enforcement has become even more pressing.
"A more cost-effective measure to improve safety would be to re-allocate road space to give more dedicated space to vulnerable road users, and this should be easy in most places due to the reduced number of vehicles on the road."
Tory and de Villa have resisted calls to close some roads to vehicles to give pedestrians and cyclists more room to move around without potentially infecting each other, saying that could encourage people to venture out of their homes.
David Rider is the Star's City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider