King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

[T3G]

We don't need enforcement. We need these people to be barred from getting driver's licenses to begin with. Enforcement is dealing with the problem once it's been created.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[Admiral Beez]

We don't need enforcement. We need these people to be barred from getting driver's licenses to begin with.

You can drive without a license. It's not some magical ability that vanishes without its possession.

 

[turbanplanner]

We don't need enforcement. We need these people to be barred from getting driver's licenses to begin with. Enforcement is dealing with the problem once it's been created.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

lol I feel like urban planners are well meaning but their ideas are often detached from reality. We need stronger punishment IMO.

'You've got to be kidding': OPP charges Caledon man twice in 30 minutes driving with suspended licence

A Caledon OPP officer stopped the same driver twice within 30 minutes for driving with a suspended licence.

www.thespec.com

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/waterfront-crash-1.6405123

Unlicensed 19-year-old drunk driver guilty in 170 km/h crash that killed Richmond Hill dad

The impact that killed Peyman Masoomi Fard, 44 was so devastating that the transmission and engine of drunk driver Fareidon Hayatibahar’s Mercedes SUV were flung up to 300 metres down the road.

www.thestar.com

 

[turbanplanner]

They go to busy downtown corners where they tell 50 pedestrians to wait for the next light cycle so that two single occupant cars can make a left turn without waiting.

The number of serious crimes (murders, car thefts, attacks) are insane. I don't blame them for not positioning people to ticket for minor violations.
Didn't the city start a plan to hire traffic wardens that can ticket so police aren't used for minor stuff like this?

 

[evandyk]

The number of serious crimes (murders, car thefts, attacks) are insane. I don't blame them for not positioning people to ticket for minor violations.
Didn't the city start a plan to hire traffic wardens that can ticket so police aren't used for minor stuff like this?

Well, that's the thing. They don't have people who ticket drivers for running red lights, blowing through stop signs or making illegal left turns. A few years ago they did find a bunch of people to stop pedestrians on Richmond and Adelaide, though I think that's mostly stopped now. I totally get that traffic may not be the highest priority, even though cars kill more people a year than murderers in Toronto, it's just where they prioritize.

 

[turbanplanner]

Well, that's the thing. They don't have people who ticket drivers for running red lights, blowing through stop signs or making illegal left turns. A few years ago they did find a bunch of people to stop pedestrians on Richmond and Adelaide, though I think that's mostly stopped now. I totally get that traffic may not be the highest priority, even though cars kill more people a year than murderers in Toronto, it's just where they prioritize.

Why do we act like death is the only outcome worth mentioning? Every single time I go on king street I'll see at least 1 cop ticketing people.

I don't think having police ticket people for offices downtown is a good use, especially seeing the number of people being attacked lately. We should push the city to get off their butts on the traffic warden program they started.

 

[T3G]

You can drive without a license. It's not some magical ability that vanishes without its possession.

No, but there is a massive population of drivers out there who don't know how to drive. Some days it feels like you can't go more than 30 seconds without seeing someone who should be banned from driving for life.

So either every other person out there is driving without a license, or access to a license is far too easy to begin with. Option 2 sounds more plausible to me than option 1.

 

[turbanplanner]

No, but there is a massive population of drivers out there who don't know how to drive. Some days it feels like you can't go more than 30 seconds without seeing someone who should be banned from driving for life.

So either every other person out there is driving without a license, or access to a license is far too easy to begin with. Option 2 sounds more plausible to me than option 1.

The issue is almost never skill, it's entitlement. A driving test every 6 months won't make someone less entitled.

 

[W. K. Lis]

No, but there is a massive population of drivers out there who don't know how to drive. Some days it feels like you can't go more than 30 seconds without seeing someone who should be banned from driving for life.

So either every other person out there is driving without a license, or access to a license is far too easy to begin with. Option 2 sounds more plausible to me than option 1.

Would be worse outside of Toronto, in the 905 and especially beyond. With little or no public transit, how do they get around? Friends, relatives, taxis , ubers, etc..

Gone were the days of hitchhiking.

From link.

People lose or never got their driver's license may end up driving anyways these days.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Would be worse outside of Toronto, in the 905 and especially beyond. With little or no public transit, how do they get around? Friends, relatives, taxis , ubers, etc..

Gone were the days of hitchhiking.

From link.

People lose or never got their driver's license may end up driving anyways these days.

I ride a motorcycle. I’m properly licensed and insured, but many, perhaps most people riding motorcycles have no valid insurance or license. And now that we don’t have validation stickers on our plates, the renewal of which required valid insurance and licensing, there’s no way for police unless they’re typing away in their cruiser, or the public to know if a driver and vehicle was legally allowed on the road. Of course a lot of legally licensed folks buy insurance to renew and then cancel the insurance - this is especially true for sport bikes where the insurance is impossibly expensive.

 

[afransen]

I ride a motorcycle. I’m properly licensed and insured, but many, perhaps most people riding motorcycles have no valid insurance or license. And now that we don’t have validation stickers on our plates, the renewal of which required valid insurance and licensing, there’s no way for police unless they’re typing away in their cruiser, or the public to know if a driver and vehicle was legally allowed on the road. Of course a lot of legally licensed folks buy insurance to renew and then cancel the insurance - this is especially true for sport bikes where the insurance is impossibly expensive.

I thought police had automated plate readers. Pretty trivial technology these days.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I thought police had automated plate readers. Pretty trivial technology these days.

But are they connected with other sections of all governments? Should be able to flag stolen cars (or plates) within a minute after a call, but many such vehicles could be drivien around for days, unnoticed. Repeat offenders (within the same year, at least) should be able get a bigger fine, for example.

 

[turbanplanner]

I thought police had automated plate readers. Pretty trivial technology these days.

They do but in my experience I've only ever seen 3 in the GTHA

 

[Dr. Snoot]

Video: How many drivers are ignoring the rules on the King Street transit corridor?

Sporadic enforcement of its traffic rules means the much-vaunted project is ignored by many.

www.thestar.com

Who’d have thought that a lack of enforcement would be an issue? Sigh. We have something like 6000 police officers in the city, where are they?

Of course the best way to prevent cars from using the King Street ROW isn't through enforcement, but through making it physically impossible/improbable that a car can break the rules, like below in Sofia.

Now that the King Street ROW is permanent, it's time to install permanent solutions to the matter of auto incursions. Presumably authorized vehicles, which in Toronto's case in addition to city and emergency vehicles, would include taxis during permitted times, would have a transponder to lower the bollards.

This is an overly complicated solution where the City / province could just agree to install automated enforcement cameras at 3-4 key intersections. I find in general that Canada lacks the willpower to take a hard line where people are obviously in the wrong. Either a driver went through the intersection contrary to traffic laws, or they didn't. Automate, systematize, enforce.

 

[afransen]

This is an overly complicated solution where the City / province could just agree to install automated enforcement cameras at 3-4 key intersections. I find in general that Canada lacks the willpower to take a hard line where people are obviously in the wrong. Either a driver went through the intersection contrary to traffic laws, or they didn't. Automate, systematize, enforce.

Yes, just some red light cameras, and green right turn arrows. I'd oppose automated enforcement with the terribly unclear direction provided by signs currently, but with unambiguous red light and 'right turn signal' it is pretty clear you're running a red by proceeding straight.