News Release
June 20, 2019

A City of Toronto staff report is recommending that City Council endorse an update to the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan, which carries a new set of proposed focus actions including lowering speed limits on hundreds of kilometres of roads. The Vision Zero 2.0 Road Safety Plan Update report will go before the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on Thursday, June 27.

The report details the City’s road safety accomplishments to date and recommends a set of extensive, proactive and targeted road safety initiatives, informed by data and aimed at eliminating serious road injuries and fatalities.

The Vision Zero 2.0 report focuses on a set of the most effective focus actions, including:

• Implementing a speed management strategy that would include lowering speed limits based on data and evidence
• Implementing additional road design improvements
• Proactively installing additional pedestrian head start signals
• Proactively addressing high-risk, mid-block crossings
• Continuing an education and engagement plan.

The report is an update to the City’s Vision Zero Road Safety Plan, which aims to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities on Toronto’s streets. Since Council approved the plan in June 2016, City staff have implemented a wide range of over 40 safety measures, including:

• Pedestrian head start features at over 80 signalized intersections
• Geometric safety improvements at 31 locations across the city
• More than 50 pedestrian safety corridors, including enhanced crosswalk markings
• Speed limit reductions
• Over 50 Senior Safety Zones and 100 School Safety Zones
• 18 km of new sidewalks
• Major road safety education campaigns and initiatives that resulted in one third of Toronto residents reporting to be aware of the City’s Vision Zero Road Safety Plan.

The Vision Zero Road Safety Plan is a five-year action plan aimed at eliminating fatalities and reducing serious injuries with an emphasis on pedestrians, school children, older adults, cyclists and motorcyclists safety as well as reducing aggressive and distracted driving.

The staff report is available at https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-134964.pdf.

More information on the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan is available at https://www.toronto.ca/VisionZero.

Quotes
“I believe the majority of Torontonians understand that we must make additional changes in order to place safety first in a growing city. That is why I’m proud to see City staff have come forward today with an evidence-based Vision Zero 2.0 plan that will take common sense action on speed limits, road design, head start signals and enforcement.”
– Mayor John Tory

“I look forward to Vision Zero 2.0 coming to committee next week so that we can build on the work we have done. It is clear that we all need do our part. Everyone needs to make safety their number one priority to truly make a difference.”
– Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 6 York Centre), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee

Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of more than 2.9 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cityoftoronto, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.

Hakeem Muhammad
Strategic Communications
416-338-5536, 416-919-6503 (cell)