Since the program began, Toronto’s automated speed enforcement cameras have nabbed nearly a million drivers exceeding the posted limit, and as the city looks to double the number of cameras in operation, a new report is recommending it change how the fines issued by speed and red light cameras are disputed.
City council previously voted to double the number of speed enforcement cameras in Toronto from 75 to 150 by 2026, but city staff identified a limitation to that plan was the processing of additional tickets they would be taking on. Between the program’s start in 2020 to November of last year, the city said it issued 961,531 infractions.
Currently, the process for disputing automated photo enforcement is done through provincial courts. A report before Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee is recommending the city move both red light camera and speed camera disputes to an administrative penalty system (APS), which is how parking tickets are currently disputed.
“That will speed up the processing of disputes, but also, more importantly, take some of the pressure off of our court system,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKevlie who chairs the committee.
APS disputes can be done both online or in-person if someone requests it. City staff said in 2021, it took about 68 days to conclude a parking dispute. In comparison, the average time to have a meeting for an early resolution or trial for a red light camera dispute in court, was between 300 to 400 days. Staff said that doesn’t include the time for a final decision.
McKelvie said on top of processing the disputes in the most effective way possible, it would also pave the way for the city to expand to other technologies to penalize drivers who block intersections by stopping in the middle of them or pedestrian crosswalks.
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Road safety advocate Jess Spieker with Friends and Families for Safe Streets said speed enforcement cameras are doing their intended job, calling them one of the best tools in the toolkit to change driver behaviour to make it safer for people outside of motor vehicles, aside from road redesign.
“I’m very pleased to see this measure to bring the penalty system in-house in the city so it can be made more efficient and faster,” she said.
Spieker said while adding more cameras should be applauded, she wished the city had pushed its efforts even further. “If we had as many speed cameras per capita as New York City does, we’d have about 700,” she said, “so a doubling to 150 is still pretty tepid. We could go much more into this if we really wanted to go whole hog for saving lives with automated enforcement.”
As much as drivers may grumble about getting a ticket in the mail, which can range depending on their speed over the limit (a red light camera infraction yields an instant $260 fine), CAA said a recent poll is showing acceptance of automated enforcement is growing. Teresa Di Felice said 1 in 9 people are worried about speeding in residential areas, while 77 per cent of Ontario drivers think automated speed enforcement is helping address speeding on residential and local roads.
But Di Felice said while many reported the cameras were encouraging them to slow down themselves, some reported they continued speeding once they were past the automated enforcement area.
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