Toronto drivers who clog up traffic by getting stuck in an intersection when the lights change can now be fined $450, a big jump from the old $90 penalty. Mayor Olivia Chow provided an extra kick in the pants if that intersection is in a ‘community safety zone‘ as the city will pinch drivers a full $500.
Rather than addressing the root causes of the traffic crisis in Toronto, such as the lack of adequate public transit, city officials have latched onto the ‘Don’t Block The Box’ mantra. They claim that substantial fines deter the negative driving behaviour. Seems legit since nobody wants to have to slalom between cars stopped on the crosswalk.
How will the city of Toronto implement this new initiative? More police officers at major downtown intersections where blocking the box creates gridlock No, of course not! Mayor Chow will simply have the city install cameras to read a car’s license plate and mail out a ticket! The cameras could also be used to fine drivers who stop in bike lanes so those scofflaws are under Big Brother’s watchful eye too.
A 2023 City of Toronto report indicated that a traffic cop at intersection reduces drivers blocking intersections by 96 per cent! Yes, the fear of getting a big ticket is a deterrent, but having a traffic cop on-site during rush hour would immediately solve the problem of drivers blocking the box. And it doesn’t have to be a miserable thing. Check out this superstar!
There’s an agenda at City Hall, and it isn’t to improve traffic flow. The city preaches the doctrine of public transit, while the TTC is a joke and major infrastructure projects are years behind schedule. But that’s OK because the kind of people who make large political donations don’t take transit!
Creating road tolls and adding congestion charges will prevent working-class people from driving in the city, leaving the streets free for the wealthy to enjoy. That seems like a solution being proposed in Toronto.
It is amazing how governments are devising new sin taxes to replace the revenue lost from the old ones because people have reduced their sinning. I love the dancing traffic cops. They need to keep moving in those intersections to reduce the chance of being run over.
Yup…keep on dancing!
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Look, I am just a freedom loving Canuck. When I read that the city’s own report indicated a traffic warden at downtown intersections reduced the “blocking the box” problem by > 95% … it became so obvious that this camera thing is another indirect tax.
Absolutely. Why solve the problem when they can make money from it?
The transit system in Toronto is a joke. Filthy, under-funded and slow. You almost feel like you need to keep your Concealed Carry permit next to your Bus Pass. Every month, another random act of violence.
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When the city fathers like mayor Olivia Chow encourage citizens to take transit instead of driving, it’s disingenuous. Transit is not a reasonable option; not today.
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So instead of investing in mass transit, city hall just lets the traffic problem boil, then indirectly taxes drivers. Next, it will be a $20 congestion charge just to drive downtown. It’s all just a cash grab, and the “leaders” have no vision or political will to solve problems.
I’m surprised Toronto doesn’t have better mass transit. Most of the large cities I spent time in, mostly in Europe, had decent mass transit systems. The mass transit in Albuquerque is a boondoggle. It is costly and doesn’t go where people need to go. There is no reason to fix things if the powers that be can make people pay to be inconvenienced.
I am first and foremost a MOTORIST yet I 100% support mass transit for selfish reasons. The way I see it, the more goofs on the subway, the fewer of them on the road next to me.
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Toronto’s transit system (actual subways and streetcars) started off well, but the growth of the city out-stripped it’s capacity. The major east/west line was completed in ’66 then an extension to the suburbs in ’85 and a short subway line of 5 stations (that connects nothing) back in ’02. During that time, the city grew by millions of people.
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That’s what really irks me. Seeing the politicians on TV making every motorist feel like an asshole for driving, when the mass transit option is total garbage. I wish Toronto was like NYC’s subway system, because investment decades ago could have prevented all this.
Well, this was a very interesting addendum to your post!
I rode the subway first time in nyc a couple years ago. It was amazing but nothing I’ve seen holds a candle to the trains in the UK.