- enforcement;

From time to time, it is suggested that if a speed limit on a particular road section were to be reduced, travelling speeds would be reduced by a corresponding margin. Studies indicate that the majority of motorists tend to travel at speeds dictated by the physical characteristics of the roadway and the surrounding environment. If the speed limit were to be lowered, the majority of motorists would continue to drive at approximately the same speeds at which they were travelling prior to the speed limit reduction. Not only is there little benefit to reducing the speed limit, but another safety concern is introduced. The range of vehicular speeds is increased since a minority of drivers will adhere to the new speed limit. This increases the number of conflicts between faster and slower-moving traffic as faster drivers encounter more slower-moving vehicles and some take evasive action to change lanes and pass. The risk of collisions (such as the rear-end and sideswipe type) increases as a result.

A number of speed limit reductions have occurred in Metropolitan Toronto in the past few years. In most cases, a comparison of "Before" and "After" speed data has demonstrated the insignificant impact of the speed limit reduction. An example is Spadina Crescent where the speed limit was reduced from 50 kilometres per hour to 40 kilometres per hour on June 1, 1995. The resulting change in 85th percentile speeds has been imperceptible (see Appendix 2).

Not only would a system-wide reduction in speed limits be ineffective in itself, and would potentially introduce a higher incidence of collisions because of greater variations in the pace of vehicles (as mentioned earlier), the present economic fabric of Metropolitan Toronto relies upon an efficient and effective network of major arterial roads.

Enforcement is a critical element when considering speed limit reductions and is discussed in Section (C) (iii) of this report. In some cases, the combination of a speed limit reduction on a portion of road, plus promotion or advertising, plus sustained enforcement may be an effective strategy to influence driver behaviour.

(ii) Install Speed Limit Signs:

The Ontario Highway Traffic Act does not require speed limit signs on roadways with a 50 kilometres per hour speed limit in urban areas. Through the driver examination and "The Drivers' Handbook of Ontario", motorists who are licensed to drive in Ontario are expected to know this, and one of the advantages has been the control of costs and visual clutter of mandatory signs. On Metro roads, "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs are installed in speed limit transition zones or in a few select locations such as chronic speeding areas. However, the "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs installed at "problem" locations have not influenced motorists to travel at or below the speed limit.

For example, on Victoria Park Avenue, between Eglinton Avenue East and St. Clair Avenue East, the speed limit was reduced from 60 kilometres per hour to 50 kilometres per hour, and "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs were installed. On O'Connor Drive, between Don Mills Road and Coxwell Avenue, although the speed limit was not modified, the installation of "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs was requested by Metropolitan Council. In both cases, radar studies have shown that the signs have not influenced motorists to travel at or below the speed limit (see Appendix 2). The effect has been negligible.

At the above-noted locations, regulatory (black-on-white) "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs were installed. Modified "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs were used on Weston Road, between Sheppard Avenue West and Walsh Avenue, to provide a greater impact on motorists' speeds. These signs were "black-on-yellow" and had "Radar Enforced" tabs. However, these modified speed limit signs were not effective in reducing the speed of vehicles travelling on this section of Weston Road (see Appendix 2).

Furthermore, there is also a cost factor associated with the installation of "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs. The initial cost to install such signs on all existing Metro roads with 50 kilometres per hour speed limits would be approximately $100,000.00, assuming signs would be spaced at 600-metre intervals.

The presence of a police officer enforcing the speed limit is commonly regarded as an effective means of speed reduction. Of course, given the constraints on the resources of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service, anything more than occasional enforcement of a given road section is unlikely.

The Transportation Department has recently requested the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service to provide a sustained level of enforcement for a finite period on Weston Road, between Sheppard Avenue West and Walsh Avenue. (As mentioned in the previous section, the use of "black-on-yellow" "50 kilometres per hour" speed limit signs and "Radar Enforced" tabs has had no significant effect on motorists' speeds in this long-standing 50 kilometres per hour zone because they were not supported by sustained enforcement.) This will allow the Department to quantify the impact of enforcement, since "Before" data (without sustained enforcement) is available. A similar strategy will be employed in 40 kilometres per hour School Speed Zones so we can evaluate the combined effects of speed limit reduction and enforcement. School Speed Zones are discussed in Section (vi).

Photo enforcement has received considerable public exposure and interest recently. The Ontario Government's photo radar enforcement on 400 series highways was generally considered to have a significant impact on the behaviour of a majority of drivers. Similarly "Red-light cameras" at signalized intersections have proven to be an effective and cost-efficient deterrent to illegal driving behaviours in other cities such as New York. Metro Transportation will report on this issue as more information on proposed Provincial statutes becomes available.

Photo enforcement is a practical solution to the ongoing problem of providing system-wide speed enforcement on major roadways. Because of the cost of conventional police enforcement techniques, it is no longer possible to rely upon this method.

Where concerns regarding high vehicular speeds are cited, they are sometimes coupled with requests for the installation of traffic control signals as a means of speed reduction. The purpose of traffic control signals is not to control speeding, but to alternate the right-of-way between conflicting flows of traffic.

As such, decisions regarding the installation of traffic control signals are based on a technical review which includes analysis of vehicle and pedestrian volumes and collision records. Radar studies have shown travelled speeds to be similar on sections of a given roadway where there are no traffic control devices and where there are traffic control signals. For example, a recent study of Kennedy Road, between Eglinton Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue East, revealed that speeds near non-signalized intersections were similar to those recorded near a signalized intersection (see Appendix 2).

Also, in an attempt to reduce speeds, the Department has been asked to time traffic signals so that platoons released from one signal will be stopped at the next signal. The Department co-ordinates the timing of networks of traffic signals in order to minimize stops. This promotes safe and efficient movement of traffic and reduces fuel consumption and emissions. The co-ordination of traffic signals is based on the posted speed limit of a given road. Inappropriately placed and poorly co-ordinated traffic signals may contribute to speeding problems (by encouraging motorists to race from one signal to the next) and other illegal driving manoeuvres (such as red-light violations) which may place the public at risk.

There is limited experience with the use of traffic-calming techniques on major urban arterials. A British study on roadways carrying less volume than most Metro roads (8,000 to 12,000 vehicles is less than most Metro roads) indicated that measures such as varied curb alignments, pedestrian islands, pavement markings, humped pedestrian crossings and constrictions led to some speed reduction. However, this may have been accompanied by an increase in collisions on other roadways selected by diverted traffic. Furthermore, the experience of European jurisdictions may not be directly transferable to North American road design and operating characteristics because European roads are generally narrower with more vertical and horizontal curves.

Traffic-calming, including speed bumps, has been used in the City of Toronto on local roads in part to reduce speeding. Speed bumps have been successful in reducing speeds on Farnham Avenue and Balmoral Avenue (e.g., 85th percentile speeds: Before - 48 kilometres per hour; After - 35 kilometres per hour). As noted earlier, these roads where traffic-calming has been successfully applied carry significantly less volume than a typical Metro road. It would be impractical to introduce traffic-calming devices on most Metro roads. There would be significant risk in the introduction of traffic-calming devices on major urban arterials which operate at fairly high speeds, with considerable volumes of traffic including large trucks, because of the potential for high collision frequency. However, the Transportation Department is presently reviewing design standards for corner radii which may have a "calming" influence, particularly for traffic entering local streets.

There is a provision in the Ontario Highway Traffic Act to designate a 40 kilometres per hour speed limit in school zones, at any preset times between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., on days when school is regularly held. Amber flashing beacons are usually used during these preset times to advise motorists of when the 40 kilometres per hour speed limit is in effect. A School Speed Zone may only be installed on roads that adjoin an entrance to, or an exit from, a school and are limited in length to 150 metres along the road beyond the limits of the school property.

Generally, School Speed Zones by themselves have not worked well on major roads in other jurisdictions. For example, the City of Edmonton found marginal reductions in speed and suggested that emphasis be placed on traffic safety education for school children and easing traffic congestion in the vicinity of schools. However, in view of the increasing concern with respect to speeding on Metro roads, particularly in school areas, the Transportation Department recommended that a trial of a School Speed Zone should be conducted on Keele Street near Glenlake Avenue and evaluated prior to consideration of applying this technique to the 120 schools on Metro roads. The installation cost per application is about $20,000.00 (for a total Metro-wide investment of about $2.4 million), and the annual maintenance cost per speed zone is $1,000.00 (for a total annual cost of about $120,000.00). Since the implementation of the Keele Street test zone, Metropolitan Council has approved the implementation of a School Speed Zone on Dundas Street East between Munro Street and Logan Avenue. The preliminary results from the Keele Street test zone indicate that speeds are generally lower (see Appendix 2). However, speed limit compliance ranges only between zero and five per cent. depending on the time of day. As mentioned earlier, we want to evaluate the combined effects of School Speed Zone speed limit reductions plus sustained police enforcement, and staff will be reporting on this issue at a later date.

Recently, a number of centre left-turn lanes have been provided on Metro roads without widening the roadway. This was accomplished by reducing the through lane widths to provide sufficient width for a centre lane. Staff have measured the impact of this lane reconfiguration on vehicle speeds.

For example, on Kennedy Road, between Lawrence Avenue East and Eglinton Avenue East, two studies showed reductions in speed following the introduction of a two-way centre left-turn lane through modification of pavement markings (see Appendix 2). However, it is too soon to measure the overall impact of these changes on collision frequency. Even if lower operating speeds are maintained, there could be a net increase in collision experience if narrower lane widths result in an increase in sideswipe type collisions.

Recently, there have been initiatives taken to widen curb lanes, where possible, in order to accommodate cyclists. The desirable and minimum lane widths for integrated bicycle facilities were documented in the report, entitled "Review of Bicycle Facilities on Metropolitan Toronto Roads", October, 1993 (see Appendix 3). Wide curb lanes/bicycle lanes are currently implemented in conjunction with other road works such as resurfacing or widening. However, there is growing concern that widened curb lanes may be contributing to motor vehicle speeding problems.

In many instances, the minimum width is not available to provide a bicycle lane in the curb lane. In this case, a white edge line could be used as a means of reducing the width of through lanes to an acceptable standard where parking is prohibited. On some sections of road it may be possible to paint this line 0.8 to 1.4 metres from the face of the curb while at the same time maintaining a minimum lane width of 3.3 to 3.5 metres. The cost to install white edge lines on Metro roads (excluding expressways) would be approximately $450,000.00. This estimate accounts for the fact that edge lines would not be installed where parking is permitted and that there are some roadways for which there is no flexibility to further reduce lane widths, but this estimate does not include annual maintenance costs. Furthermore, another relatively new option being tested in a few other jurisdictions is the use of "Share the Lane" logos adjacent to the curb.

At the present time, Metro Transportation does not have the resources to conduct a comprehensive study of these issues and care should be taken not to introduce system-wide changes that could potentially result in an increase in collision experience. It is prudent to test these initiatives on a few carefully selected sections of road, and we will identify these this Summer and evaluate the impacts during the rest of 1997.

A recent survey conducted by the IBI Group for the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) indicated that speed control for collectors and arterials has centred around signal progression and enforcement in Canadian urban areas. Some jurisdictions feel that "self-enforcement" utilizing environmental factors such as the type and density of roadside development, the presence of on-street parking, pedestrians and vegetation/parks, can affect a driver's choice of speed just as with low speed roads. There is general consensus that collectors and arterials in urban areas with speed limits greater than 50 kilometres per hour need to rely on measures that do not include humps or raised sections of roadway to encourage compliance with the specified limit.

There are numerous traffic safety programs administered by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service which attempt to pro-actively address aggressive driving behaviour. The Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board is expected to forward a report soon to the Planning and Transportation Committee which addresses this issue, in response to a request from that Committee.

(x) Future Developments:

The discussion about improving speed limit compliance is of considerable interest to many people, and the variety of issues and tradeoffs influencing the debate is extensive. There are numerous stakeholders who may have an interest in this debate and have valuable contributions to make. Therefore, we will be distributing this discussion paper to a broad range of organizations, committees, groups and individuals requesting their comments. It is our intention to enter into a dialogue with these stakeholders and report back in 1998. Furthermore, there are a number of locations where a variety of tests are being performed and where new tests will be initiated to determine the impact of certain traffic control devices on speed limit compliance.

Furthermore, we want to monitor the progress of the TAC study and add its discussion into this ongoing debate.

The support and input of the Metro Toronto Police Service with respect to this review is crucial, particularly with respect to its participation in the various tests related to the impact of sustained enforcement.