News   Dec 10, 2025
63-Storey Pencil Tower Proposed on Adelaide East Near Church Street
 1.5K     0 
News   Dec 10, 2025
11-Storey Rental Infill Proposed Beside Grange Park
 763     4 
News   Dec 10, 2025
Higher Capacity Union Station Coming as South Concourse Work Continues
 1.9K     2 

Road Safety & Vision Zero Plan

1756312213402.png

From https://itdp.org/multimedia/pedestrians-first-infographic/
 
About a month ago Toronto's Vision Zero team began a campaign called "Rules for Rideables", which they have a page for here and I previously shared their posters in this post a couple pages back. Since then, The Biking Layer has put out a handful of "ads" in the style of the Vision Zero campaign and borrowing phrases to criticize the e-bike/scooter enforcement blitz, hand-wringing about riding on the sidewalk, and putting focus on the real culprit of road violence.

1757091693165.png

1757091716477.png
1757091807018.png

1757091742971.png
 
I don’t think there’s a better thread for this but an illuminating moment to share. Was at a street party this evening and after the band finished up and everyone started clearing the street, barriers were moved so musicians could drive in and load up their cars (earlier they just walked it in just over 50 metres). As kids were still playing and running around on the street, a group of young girls stopped and wondered/complained, “Why are there so many coming onto the street? Why can’t they just walk?!”

With the tiniest taste of streets free of cars even kids see how much better it is.
 
Matt Elliott with a short opinion piece in The Star about the speed cameras. Pulled out a few pieces below

Opinion | Cash grab? If there’s a problem with Toronto’s speed cameras, it’s that they aren’t grabbing enough cash​

During a traffic count conducted between Tuesday, April 29 and Thursday, May 1 this year, the city recorded an average speed of 39.6 km/h. Since the speed limit on Parkside is 40 km/h, that’s good news. The “average driver” is a law-abiding driver. But there were still lots of speedsters. The city’s data says about 15 per cent of cars were going about seven kilometre an hour or more above the limit. About five per cent of cars were going 12 kilometres an hour or more above the limit.

During this traffic count, the city recorded daily volumes of 27,077 cars. In a hypothetical world where the machines were enforcing 24/7 — the city has said sometimes the machines stop issuing tickets to manage volumes — and some drivers weren’t using illegal plate covers to fool the machines, the cameras would be snapping a lot more often.

If every one of the cars exceeding the speed limit by at least seven kilometres an hour got hit with a ticket, the cameras would be writing more than 4,000 tickets a day, or well over 100,000 tickets a month. Limit the tickets to only the five per cent or so going about 12 over, and they’d be issuing about 1,300 tickets a day, or about 40,000 a month.

Let’s switch back to reality now. The most tickets ever issued in a single month by the Parkside drive camera? Just 3,586, in April 2022 — the very first month it was active. Setting aside the months where vandals with power saws screwed with the data, the camera has averaged about 2,000 tickets per month over its 40-plus months of service.

The city has told me the average fine for a ticket camera infraction is $107.32. That means, in a world where it was logistically possible to issue tickets to every driver clocked over the limit, city hall could have generated more than $500 million from this single camera alone.

paywall bypass
 
Here is an overview of a 5km stretch of street that was rebuilt in Utrecht. It's a street with a roughly 23m ROW (facade to facade). I think a lot of good features that could be considered for some urban high streets in Toronto to help with traffic calming. Danforth, which is just a couple meters wider?

I think the raised pedestrian crossings, cycle tracks and sidewalks set back from the street with a furniture/loading/parking buffer is very well done. Also like the bit of calming with the textured asphalt strip between the opposing traffic lanes. Having the cycle track and sidewalk at the same level, with different treatments, helps with the fact that the sidewalks may not be super wide. Accessibility can be preserved as sidewalk users can encroach on the cycle track.

Also, I think it is insane that NA doesn't use bollards at intersections to protect pedestrians from vehicle excursions from the roadway.

1758392786150.png

1758392819964.png

1758392856639.png

1758392924755.png


 

Doug Ford will outlaw municipal speed cameras this fall: Sources​

www.thestar.com

Doug Ford will outlaw municipal speed cameras this fall: sources

Sources say Ford's Progressive Conservatives will table legislation later this fall to outlaw the "automated speed enforcement" devices.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

Speaking to reporters Monday in Russell, Ont., he said Queen’s Park was “going to be giving municipalities across the province a lot of money to put in all sorts of street-calming methods from little turnabouts, from speed bumps to flashing signs — and that’s going to slow people down.”
The premier, who has praised Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca for removing his city’s speed cameras, said he’s been canvassing municipal leaders across the province, and some will join him when he formally unveils the changes later this week.
Click to expand...

 
crs1026 said:
Worse than that. The polling seems to favour speed cameras. This is one guy trying to ingratiate himself with a small group of voters.

- Paul
Click to expand...

I live way out in the burbs, everyone i know seems to be pretty happy with the speed cameras in the area, especially in the school zone. People are sick of drivers racing down the street like it's the 401 on a residential street.
 
Not squarely Vision Zero, sorta a bit that, and a bit public realm maintenance......... (or prevention of same)............

Transportation Operations Mgr Becky Katz posted a simple, but quality solution to a well worn desire line on her social:

Before:

1758683498404.png


After:

1758683547295.png


Her Caption:

1758683611592.png


From: https://bsky.app/profile/beckykatz.bsky.social/post/3lzkgtgiass2b
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top