Toronto is adding 25 new photo radar cameras. Road safety advocates don’t think they are the answer

In September, the photo radar camera on Parkside Drive once again caught the most speeders.

Thestar.com
Nov. 3, 2022
Ben Mussett

Toronto plans to add 25 new automated speed cameras in February as part of its Vision Zero plan, an ambitious effort undertaken by municipalities around the world to eliminate all traffic-related deaths.

The new cameras -- an additional one in each ward -- will join the 50 that have been in operation since July 2020 in school and community safety zones across Toronto. This month, the city will set up warning signs to inform drivers where the cameras will soon be located, as required by provincial legislation.

But road safety advocates insist there are more effective ways to save lives than relying on so-called “automated speed enforcement” devices, despite the fact research has shown they can be a considerable deterrent against impatient drivers.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Albert Koehl, an environmental lawyer and founder of Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition.

But the bigger goal should be road redesign, he said, like reducing car lanes, widening sidewalks, and increasing bike lanes, bus lanes and midblock crossings. However, he concedes that kind of change requires a “substantial investment” of political will and funding.

During the election, Koehl’s group called on the city to increase capital funding for the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan to at least $75 million in 2023 -- an increase of more than $50 million from this year.

Since their introduction two summers ago, the photo radar cameras have been moved to different locations to discourage speeding on as many stretches of road as possible.

Once a car is photographed, the image is reviewed by police and tickets are sent to the registered owner of the vehicle. The fine could be as little as $105, and those caught don’t incur any demerit points, nor does it affect their driving record. In the spring, reporting by the Star found that more than a quarter of drivers caught speeding near Toronto schools were not ticketed due to various reasons, including a provincial deadline for processing the captured photos.

Still, only months after installation, Toronto’s current pool of cameras reduced the number of speeders in 40 km/h zones from 49 per cent to 28 per cent, according to a study by the Hospital for Sick Children and Toronto Metropolitan University.

In September, the city’s speed cameras resulted in 23,163 tickets. About 10 per cent of those were issued on Parkside Drive, south of Algonquin Avenue, a busy stretch where many locals have long pushed for change. In all but one month since April, the camera on Parkside saw the most speeding. In October last year, a couple was killed in a five-vehicle collision on that road’s southern stretch.

A camera at O’Connor Drive, west of Lankin Boulevard, resulted in 1,929 tickets in September, the second most tickets issued at any location that month. A few minutes east of there, a pedestrian was struck by a car and killed on O’Connor Drive in October 2021.

The highest speed so far detected this year was 146 km in a 50-km zone on Martin Grove, north of Garfella Drive.

In the three years before Toronto adopted “Vision Zero” in 2016, the city saw an average of 60 traffic-related deaths per year, including motorists. After a drop in deaths likely related to COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, the year speed cameras were installed, 60 people died on the road in 2021. As of Sept. 29, Toronto is on pace to see 59 traffic-related fatalities this year.

The road to zero, according to Koehl, requires a significant shift away from car culture.

It could “undo so much of the damage that was done in the ’50s and ’60s,” he said, “when we built the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Expressway, when we widened Avenue Road and Dufferin and Ossington and a whole slew of other roads.”

David Simon, director of the Centre for Active Transportation, said he was “cautious” about adding more radar cameras, citing U.S. research that found they lead to overticketing of people of colour. (It’s not clear the same pattern has taken place in Toronto.)

However, Simon agrees with Koehl’s call for a fundamental change in street planning.

“We encourage the city to use any and all of the other things that they have in their Vision Zero tool kit,” he said, such as creating more protected intersections.

In addition to the new radar cameras, 49 of Toronto’s original 50 are currently moving to new locations, where warning signs had previously been placed.

The only device that won’t move is at Parkside Drive, south of Algonquin Avenue.

Here’s where the new cameras will be:

1. Thistle Down Boulevard east of Albion Road (Etobicoke North)

2. Martin Grove Road south of Eglinton Avenue West (Etobicoke Centre)

3. Mimico Avenue west of Station Road (Etobicoke-Lakeshore)

4. Lansdowne Avenue near 108 Lansdowne Ave. (Parkdale--High Park)

5. Pritchard Avenue near Batavia Avenue (York South--Weston)

6. Sheppard Avenue West west of Keele Street (York Centre)

7. Driftwood Avenue east of Jane Street (Humber River--Black Creek)

8. Avenue Road north of Elwood Boulevard (Eglinton-Lawrence)

9. Gladstone Avenue south of Cross Street (Davenport)

10. Dennison Avenue south of Grange (Spadina--Fort York)

11. Bloor Street West west of Clinton Street (University-Rosedale)

12. Davisville Avenue east of Yonge Street (Toronto-St. Paul’s)

13. Queen Street East near Sackville Street (Toronto Centre)

14. Logan Avenue north of Wolfrey Avenue (Toronto-Danforth)

15. Harrison Road near Vernham Avenue (Don Valley West)

16. Sloane Avenue near Draycott Drive (Don Valley East)

17. Freshmeadow Drive west of Applegate Crescent (Don Valley North)

18. Senlac Road north of Elynhill Drive (Willowdale)

19. Main Street south of Swanwick Avenue (Beaches--East York)

20. Danforth Road east of Huntington Avenue (Scarborough Southwest)

21. Lawrence Avenue East near Canlish Road (Scarborough Centre)

22. Birchmount Road north of Bay Mills Boulevard (Scarborough-Agincourt)

23. Tapscott Road west of Blackwell Avenue (Scarborough North)

24. Orton Park Road south of Ellesmere Road (Scarborough-Guildwood)

25. Lawrence Avenue East west of Port Union Road (Scarborough--Rouge Park)

Here are the new locations of the 50 current speed cameras:

1. Kipling Avenue north of Rowntree Road (Etobicoke North)

2. Humberwood Boulevard south of Pinecone Drive (Etobicoke North)

3. Bloor Street West near 4034 Bloor St. W. (Etobicoke Centre)

4. Allanhurst Drive near Mulham Place (Etobicoke Centre)

5. Burnhamthorpe Road west of Dundas Street West (Etobicoke-Lakeshore)

6. Norseman Street near Lothian Avenue (Etobicoke-Lakeshore)

7. Dundas Street West east of Watkinson Avenue (Parkdale--High Park)

8. Keele Street near Nashville Avenue (York South--Weston)

9. Emmett Avenue near 75 Emmett Ave. (York South--Weston)

10. Keele Street north of Wandle Avenue (York Centre)

11. Giltspur Drive near 120 Giltspur Dr. (York Centre)

12. Weston Road south of Burgundy Court (Humber River--Black Creek)

13. Duncanwoods Drive west of Gracedale Boulevard (Humber River--Black Creek)

14. Neptune Drive west of Bathurst Street (Eglinton-Lawrence)

15. Glengrove Avenue West west of Glen Castle Street (Eglinton-Lawrence)

16. Ossington Avenue north of Churchill Avenue (Davenport)

17. College Street near Sheridan Avenue (Davenport)

18. Dundas Street West near Carlyle Street (Spadina--Fort York)

19. Queens Quay West east of Bathurst Street (Spadina--Fort York)

20. Bloor Street East east of Castle Frank Road (University-Rosedale)

21. Howland Avenue south of Wells Street (University-Rosedale)

22. Yonge Street near Glen Elm Avenue (Toronto-St. Paul’s)

23. Russell Hill Road north of Coulson Avenue (Toronto-St. Paul’s)

24. Alexander Street east of Yonge Street (Toronto Centre)

25. Sherbourne Street south of Wellesley Street East (Toronto Centre)

26. Dundas Street East west of Boulton Avenue (Toronto-Danforth)

27. Carlaw Avenue south of Queen Street East (Toronto-Danforth)

28. Overlea Boulevard east of William Morgan Drive (Don Valley West)

29. Fenn Avenue north of Gordon Road (Don Valley West)

30. Don Mills Road north of Overlea Boulevard (Don Valley East)

31. Fenelon Drive near Karen Road (Don Valley East)

32. Old Sheppard Avenue east of Ladner Drive (Don Valley North)

33. Van Horne Avenue near Silas Hill Drive (Don Valley North)

34. Beecroft Road near Lorraine Drive (Willowdale)

35. Hilda Avenue north of Drewry Avenue (Willowdale)

36. Gerrard Street East east of Beaton Avenue (Beaches--East York)

37. Wolverleigh Boulevard west of Glebemount Avenue (Beaches--East York)

38. Midland Avenue south of Aylesworth Avenue (Scarborough Southwest)

39. Blantyre Avenue south of Swanwick Avenue (Scarborough Southwest)

40. Midland Avenue north of Tara Avenue (Scarborough Centre)

41. Dorcot Avenue west of Lyon Heights Road (Scarborough Centre)

42. Finch Avenue East west of Birchmount Road (Scarborough-Agincourt)

43. Glendower Circuit near Nearwood Gate (Scarborough-Agincourt)

44. Brimley Road north of Pitfield Road (Scarborough North)

45. Ingleton Boulevard east of Presidents Court (Scarborough North)

46. Morningside Avenue north of Danzig Street (Scarborough-Guildwood)

47. Dormington Drive north of Ellesmere Road (Scarborough-Guildwood)

48. Morrish Road near Starfire Drive (Scarborough--Rouge Park)

49. Littles Road south of Rangeley Drive (Scarborough--Rouge Park)