October 19, 1998

To:The Urban Environment and Development Committee

From:General Manager, Transportation Services

Subject:Trial Installations of Community Safety Zones

Purpose:

To propose the introduction of a number of Community Safety Zones within the City of Toronto in order to test their effectiveness on improving driver compliance with traffic regulations.

Funding Sources:

The funds associated with the implementation of the proposed Community Safety Zone test locations are contained in the Transportation Services Division's 1999 Current Budget estimates. The estimated cost of installing the appropriate signs is $23,700.00.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)in co-operation with the Toronto Police Services, Transportation Services staff devise and conduct a program of "before" and "after" studies at a representative number of locations to be designated as Community Safety Zones ;

(2)the following test locations be designated as Community Safety Zones on February 1st, 1999, to be in effect at all times:

(i)Keele Street, between Bloor Street West and Annette Street;

(ii)East Avenue, between Lawrence Avenue East and Island Road;

(iii)O'Connor Drive, between Woodbine Avenue and Pape Avenue;

(iv)Scarlett Road, between St. Clair Avenue West and Eglinton Avenue West;

(v)Dundas Street West, between Montgomery Road and 100 metres east of Old Oak Road;

(vi)Bathurst Street, between Kenton Drive and Hounslow Avenue;

(vii)Finch Avenue West, between Goldfinch Court and Endell Avenue;

(viii)Bathurst Street, between the north limit of Steeles Avenue West and 100 metres south of Greenwin Village Road; and

(ix)Steeles Avenue West, between 100 metres west of Carpenter Road and 100 metres east of Bathurst Street.

(3)staff report to the Urban Environment and Development Committee in the Fall of 1999 on the effectiveness of the trial Community Safety Zones; and

(4)the necessary by-law(s) be enacted to give effect thereto.

Background:

At their meeting of July 29, 30 and 31, 1998 City Council adopted the recommendations presented in a report by the City Solicitor, dated July 6, 1998 (see Appendix 1), and in so doing, instructed staff to identify a limited number of potential locations for Community Safety Zone designation, for consideration by the Urban Environment and Development Committee.

City Council also adopted the following:

"It is further recommended that the Transportation Services staff include in their forthcoming report to the Urban Environment and Development Committee, an evaluation as a Community Safety Zone, of Keele Street and Parkside Drive from Lake Shore Boulevard West to Annette Street."

On August 27, 1998, the Chief Judge of the Provincial Division of the Ontario Court of Justice established the Set Fines for the offences affected by the Community Safety Zone designation, and this order came into effect on September 1, 1998. The Set Fine for Community Safety Zone offences is approximately double the minimum fine for the same offences outside these zones (see Appendix2).

It should be noted that there are a number of traffic control devices being tested within the "Speed Compliance On Major Arterial Roads" program, and these are not included within this report, but will be reported on at a subsequent Urban Environment and Development Committee meeting in the near future.

Discussion:

The Province of Ontario has amended the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) to provide municipalities with a new traffic management tool. Specifically,

"The council of a municipality may by by-law designate a part of a highway under its jurisdiction as a community safety zone if, in the council's opinion, public safety is of special concern on that part of the highway."

The Province provides no criteria for the selection of these zones, and the zones must be specific sections of roads or intersections. The HTA amendment includes strict signage requirements. (See Appendix 3.) Municipalities can establish Community Safety Zones to be in effect at all times, or during whatever times of the day, days of the week and/or months of the year it so chooses. However, the prescribed signs cannot be altered to identify specific times, days or months. Therefore, unless the zones are in effect at all times, large sign tabs would have to be installed adjacent to the prescribed signs in order to conform with the legal requirements of Community Safety Zone designation. Staff recommend that the Community Safety Zones be in effect at all times in order to realize maximum benefits from the designations; for simplicity of public awareness and enforcement; and for maximum simplicity and legibility of the signs.

Staff are not confident that the designation and signing of Community Safety Zones will be a significant deterrent to illegal driving behaviour. The degree of impact of these zones will likely be proportional to the level of enforcement provided by the Toronto Police Services. Their resources for this effort are limited, so the greatest possible impact will be achieved by designating a select few Community Safety Zones. Furthermore, in order to properly assess the impact of these zones, Transportation Services staff should conduct a detailed series of "before" and "after" studies at the test sites to quantify speed profiles, traffic volumes, and illegal traffic manoeuvres. These studies should be conducted both with and without the impact of police enforcement, both "before" and "after" the Community Safety Zones have been introduced. There are limited staff resources to undertake these studies, which is further reason to limit the number of test sites. In order to provide staff with time to conduct the "before" studies, the zones should not be signed prior to February1,1999.

In order to focus the designation of Community Safety Zones to locations where they would be of greatest deterrent benefit, staff used the following criteria to assess candidate locations:

(i)there is a history of repeated offences of similar nature;

(ii)enforcement alone has not been effective; and

(iii)other mitigating measures are inappropriate or have not been effective.

In addition to the first three criteria, staff also assessed other elements where the public is exposed to the highest safety risks:

(iv)at high collision locations;

(v)adjacent to elementary schools; and

(vi)at elementary school crossings.

It is not practical to designate all school crossings as Community Safety Zones. There are approximately 700 throughout the City of Toronto, of which approximately 100 are patrolled by student (child) patrollers, and the rest are controlled by adult crossing guards.

Staff have consulted with the vast majority of City Councillors on this issue. The majority acknowledge the value of limiting the number of test locations and conducting meaningful "before" and "after" studies. However, a few Councillors suggested that many more sites should be designated, such as one or two per Ward. Generally, Councillors expressed a certain degree of scepticism regarding the legislation, and questioned its effectiveness. Some suggested that the legislation should include an increase in the loss of demerit points upon conviction, in order to strengthen the deterrent value of Community Safety Zones.

The effectiveness of the legislation was also questioned in relation to the limited enforcement resources which could be dedicated to this program. Several Councillors suggested that the Community Safety Zone designations be removed periodically or rotated from site to site in order to heighten the impact and allow for concentrated enforcement efforts. There were also comments on the need for public awareness information, such as brochure distribution close to the test sites.

Councillors were asked to either suggest candidate locations for Community Safety Zones or comment on sites suggested by staff or other Councillors. (Attached as Appendix 4 is the list of specific locations mentioned by Councillors.) Staff have assessed the candidate locations in relation to the criteria mentioned earlier and attempted to balance the comments and opinions of Councillors. Those locations suggested by Councillors which are not part of the initial test are available in the event that the effects of the trial Community Safety Zones are beneficial and the program is expanded.

The list of locations suggested by staff for the trial of Community Safety Zones equates to approximately one section of road for each Community Council area, plus an additional high collision location intersection. Each location is described briefly below:

(i)Keele Street, between Bloor Street West and Annette Street:

This four lane arterial roadway in the Toronto Community Area has been the subject of considerable study in the past in relation to continual speeding concerns in proximity to schools. A school speed zone was installed in 1996. Parkside Drive, south of Bloor Street West, historically has a lower speed profile (than Keele Street north of Bloor Street West) and traffic control signals are being installed at two intersections on this section of road in 1998. The estimated cost of sign installation is $3,000.00.

(ii)East Avenue, between Lawrence Avenue East and Island Road:

This section of road in the eastern-most portion of the Scarborough Community Area has a history of speeding problems. A school is located on it, two pedestrian crossovers, and a transition from a 50 km/h to a 40 km/h speed limit. The estimated cost of sign installation is $3,900.00.

(iii)O'Connor Drive, between Woodbine Avenue and Pape Avenue:

This four lane, 50 km/h arterial roadway in the East York Community Area has been the focus of considerable public concern with respect to speeding, collisions, and PXO violations. The estimated cost of sign installation is $4,700.00.

(iv)Scarlett Road, between St. Clair Avenue West and Eglinton Avenue West:

The majority of this four lane, 50 km/h arterial roadway is in the York Community Area, but the northerly portion is in the Etobicoke Community Area. There is a long history of traffic safety concerns related to this section of road. The estimated cost of sign installation is $4,800.00.

(v)Dundas Street West, between Montgomery Road and 100 metres east of Old Oak Road:

This four lane, 50 km/h arterial roadway has a history of speeding and collision concerns in the Etobicoke Community Area. It is the most problematic section of Dundas Street West, between Islington Avenue and Royal York Road. The estimated cost of sign installation is $1,100.00

(vi)Bathurst Street, between Kenton Drive and Hounslow Avenue:

(vii)Finch Avenue West, between Goldfinch Court and Endell Avenue:

These sections of Bathurst Street and Finch Avenue West, in the North York Community Area, span the Bathurst Street and Finch Avenue West intersection which has consistently ranked as a High Collision Location. The improvements undertaken in the past have not reduced the collision frequency. The estimated cost of sign installation is $3,800.00

(viii)Bathurst Street, between the north limit of Steeles Avenue West and 100 metres south of Greenwin Village Road:

(ix)Steeles Avenue West, between 100 metres west of Carpenter Road and 100 metres east of Bathurst Street:

These sections of Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West, in the North York Community Area, span the Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West intersection which has consistently ranked as a High Collision Location. The improvements undertaken in the past have not significantly reduced the collision frequency. The estimated cost of sign installation is $2,400.00.

The total cost of manufacturing and installing the Community Safety Zone signage at all the recommended locations is estimated to be approximately $23,700.00.

One suggestion raised is the installation of Community Safety Zone signs on all the streets in proximity to and approaching the principal section of road being designated. If this strategy were used the signage costs would more than double. The purpose of signing the side streets would be to allow for increased fines for violations originating from the side street, such as disobeyance of a stop sign.

As mentioned earlier, staff will conduct detailed "before" and "after" studies in order to measure the effectiveness of Community Safety Zones. Staff have requested close co-operation from the Toronto Police Services in order to isolate the effects with and without the presence of enforcement. In order to provide staff with time to conduct "before" studies, installation of the zones should occur in February 1999. Staff will report on the test results in the fall of 1999.

The Province of Ontario has been asked what promotional activities they will undertake to advise the public of these new traffic control devices. Staff of the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services have advised that a promotional campaign has been designed which is before the Minister for approval.

Conclusions:

The Province of Ontario has amended the HTA in order to provide municipalities with the option of designating special sections of road, or intersections, as Community Safety Zones. If a motorist is convicted of any one of a variety of offences committed within a Community Safety Zone, they will be subject to a Set Fine approximately twice as expensive as the minimum fine for the same offence committed elsewhere. The Province anticipates that driver obeyance of the rules of the road will thus be improved within Community Safety Zones.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this new device, staff propose to undertake "before" and "after" studies at select recommended locations and report back to the Urban Environment and Development Committee in the Fall of 1999.

Contact Name and Telephone Number:

Peter Hillier, Senior Manager

Traffic Regions

(416) 392-5348

David C. Kaufman

General Manager, Transportation Services

Barry H. Gutteridge

Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services

PKH/der

Attach.