City begins installing photo radar in school zones

Thestar.com
September 5, 2018
Ben Spurr

The city has started installing cameras to catch drivers who speed through school zones, but it could be at least a year before any tickets are issued through the new program.

At a news conference in North York Tuesday that coincided with the first day of school, Mayor John Tory announced the first location to receive automated speed enforcement cameras, which will allow the city to identify drivers who exceed the speed limit and send them a ticket in the mail.

From left, Councillor Jaye Robinson, Mayor John Tory, Councillor Jon Burnside, and Roger Browne, manager of traffic control and safety systems for the city of Toronto, announce placement of a photo radar camera in a North York school zone on Tuesday.

The city will test the photo radar system in a four-month pilot project, during which data will be collected but no tickets or warnings will be issued. The city hopes to take the program live by the end of 2019, but is awaiting the enactment of the necessary regulations by the provincial government.

Tory acknowledged that automated enforcement is “a controversial subject still, in some quarters,” but said using the technology in school zones “is something that I think a lot of people agree with.”

The mayor asserted the camera program “is going to help us move forward on the overall program of Vision Zero,” the city’s $109-million plan to eliminate traffic deaths.

The first cameras have been installed at the intersection of Don Mills Rd. and Overlea Blvd., adjacent to Valley Park Middle School and Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute. A second installation near Allenby Junior Public School, at Avenue Rd. and St. Clements Ave., is expected in the coming weeks.

The city says cameras will be deployed at different locations throughout the pilot project. Once the program is permanent, it plans to put a camera system at one intersection in each ward.

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The provincial Safer School Zones Act, which passed in May 2017, legalized the use of automated enforcement systems. But the city isn’t allowed to actually start issuing fines using the technology until the province drafts regulations under the law.

A spokesperson for Transportation Minister John Yakabuski said once the city concludes its pilot project, “regulations would be prepared by (the ministry) to allow them to implement their program by late 2019.”

“The safety of road users is a top priority for the Ministry of Transportation and we look forward to ongoing discussions with our municipal partners to improve road safety in school zones,” Justine Lewkowicz wrote in an email.

Tory said the process of getting provincial approval for the program has been “frustratingly bureaucratic” and argued the city “shouldn’t have to get permission to do this kind of thing.” But he said talks with Queen’s Park are ongoing and being conducted “in good faith.”

In a separate development Tuesday, the city announced that uniformed police officers will no longer fill in for crossing guards who are unable to come to work.

Instead, the work of substituting for absent crossing guards has been contracted out to a private company called Neptune Security Services. According to the city, the private guards will be put through the same screening and training as current Toronto police crossing guards.

The change is part of a process to transfer administration of the crossing guard program from the police to the city transportation department. The transition is expected to be complete next September.

Tory described the contracting out as a “sensible arrangement” that wouldn’t compromise safety.