Pedestrians contribute to Toronto gridlock every day

WATCH ABOVE: Toronto Police say pedestrians don’t follow the rules and as result they’re contributing to the gridlock situation on a daily basis.

TORONTO – We know that illegally parked cars and delivery vehicles can cause traffic havoc during the rush hours in downtown Toronto. But you don’t have to be a driver to add to the congestion problems gripping the city.

Toronto Police will tell you that you can be a problem even when you aren’t behind the wheel.

“Pedestrians aren’t following the rules and as result they’re contributing to the gridlock situation on a daily basis,” Constable Clint Stibbe said.

And you’re wondering how can that be? Well, you probably do it anytime you stroll our downtown streets. You not only contribute to congestion – you break the law when you enter the cross walk when the countdown clock is running.

“(Pedestrians are) actually committing an offence under the highway traffic act. They have no priority to be on the roadway,” Stibbe said.

The problem is, a good number of pedestrians don’t know they are breaking the law. Most think the countdown clock indicates how much time is left before you no longer have the right of way on the green signal. Stibbe says that’s not the case.

“The purpose of the countdown is for anyone who is lawfully on the roadway to complete their crossing. That’s the only reason those countdown signals are there. Once that flashing hand starts or the countdown signal begins – they both begin at the same time – you have no right to enter the roadway at any time.”

Think of how many times you’ve done it. That’s how many times you’ve potentially caused a traffic delay.

Cars trying to turn right on the green are often held up by people crossing the intersection at the last minute. Sure, it’s only a few seconds here or there, but a few seconds you’re pinching in the race against the flashing red hand compound into minutes and hours over the course of a day.

“Thousands of people per minute are probably committing that offence,” Stibbe said, suggesting that translates into unnecessary traffic delays every day. “The purpose is – when the countdown has begun and people are clearing the lanes of traffic – generally there should be a few seconds now for those vehicles to clear the intersection safely. However, you’ll see it regularly when a car will begin clearing the intersection during countdown and then somebody will run across in front of that vehicle.”

The solutions aren’t all that obvious. Enforcement would require a major and constant investment in high profile police presence at every one of the 2,284 controlled intersections in Toronto.

“The fact that we’re standing on the corner at the intersection is a deterrent,” Stibbe said. “We see people go back onto the sidewalk when they see a police car coming. But once we’re no longer there – they continue to break the rules.”

But even if the enforcement units were in place, Stibbe admits the $50 fine isn’t much of a deterrent. And so the cycle continues. Thousands of infractions per minute at the height of the rush hours times the ten or fifteen seconds of delays translate into as much as hundreds of travel hours lost as vehicles sit and wait.