Public Report To: From: Report Number: Community Services Committee Ron Diskey, Commissioner, Community Services Department CS-18-52 Date of Report: June 15, 2018 Date of Meeting: June 21, 2018 Subject: Photo Radar Program Update File: E-1400 1.0 Purpose The purpose of this report is to respond to the direction of the Community Services Committee (CS-16-101) to provide an update to the details and status of the proposed photo radar program as discussed by the province. This report also focuses on Bill 65, Safer School Zone Act, 2017 of the Ontario Legislative Assembly that allows municipalities to use Automated Speed Enforcement (A.S.E.) in School Zones and Community Safety Zones. 2.0 Recommendation That the Community Services Committee recommend to City Council: That Report CS-18-54 dated June 4, 2018 concerning the Photo Radar Program Update be received for information. 3.0 Executive Summary N/A 4.0 Input From Other Sources Participation in the Ontario Traffic Council (O.T.C.) working group meetings with other municipalities including the Region of Durham. 6
Meeting Date: June 21, 2018 Page 2 5.0 Analysis 5.1 Background An automated enforcement system is being used in some North American and European countries to control traffic violations such as aggressive driving, red-light running and speeding. The system, also called Photo Radar or Automated Speed Enforcement (A.S.E.), is the combination of one or more cameras and other equipment; and may be located permanently or temporarily on mobile units. It is capable of photographing the vehicle and roadway, and measures vehicle s rate of speed using radar or other instrumentation and taking a photograph of the vehicle when it exceeds a threshold limit. On May 30, 2017, Bill 65, Safer School Zone Act, was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This legislation amended the Highway Traffic Act (H.T.A.) to allow municipalities to use Automated Speed Enforcement (A.S.E.), commonly referred to as Photo Radar in School Zones and Community Safety Zones on roadways with posted speed limits less than 80 km/h. The Highway Traffic Act amendments that enable ASE deployment would permit any road authority including Provincial, Regional or Local to implement an ASE system on roadways within their jurisdiction that meet the legislated criteria. The Ontario Traffic Council (O.T.C.) provides their support and services in the traffic management sector in Ontario to enhance traffic safety measures through engineering, education and enforcement. As part of their mandate, the Ontario Traffic Council organized an Automated Speed Enforcement Working Group (O.T.C. A.S.E.) that includes representatives from many municipalities, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of the Attorney General to discuss the development and implementation of the A.S.E. program. The O.T.C. has included staff from Durham Region, the City of Oshawa, the Town of Whitby and other municipalities in their working group. The O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group provided comments to the Province regarding Bill 65 and they are now working on where A.S.E. should be implemented, how A.S.E. should operate and the impact that A.S.E. may have on municipalities. The O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group expressed the need for a Steering Committee that can discuss and decide specific thresholds and targets for the A.S.E. program. Steering Committee membership will be open to all municipalities that intend to fully participate in the A.S.E. program and the pilot development. The City of Toronto requires municipalities committed to the Steering Committee to provide them with a letter of intent. The letter of intent will be a commitment in principal to the A.S.E. program. Municipalities interested in the A.S.E. program will need the approval of Council, a City Manager or another person with the authority to bind the corporation to issue the letter of intent. After receiving the letter of intent, the City of Toronto will circulate a list of those municipalities who have provided the letter of intent. A municipality will have the option to leave the Steering Committee any time if, the costs of the program are determined to be unacceptable to the municipality, or the program does not align with the municipality s transportation and political agenda. 7
Meeting Date: June 21, 2018 Page 3 There was discussion about the difference between the A.S.E. Steering Committee and the existing A.S.E. Working Groups. The Steering Committee will act as a governing council and manage the Working Groups. The Steering Committee will need to approve items related to A.S.E. system operations before implementation. The existing A.S.E. Working Groups will report to the Steering Committee. This report also provides an update regarding ongoing staff participation in the O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group tasked with the implementation of the A.S.E. system in the province. The mandate of the O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group does not include school bus camera enforcement. 5.2 Automated Speed Enforcement (A.S.E.) Program Speeding is generally defined as exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for the prevailing conditions and is considered to be a major contributing factor in motor vehicle collisions and a leading road safety problem. Selecting a safe speed on a roadway has always been a disputing public issue; any measure to reducing operating speeds will therefore reduce the number of collisions, injuries and fatalities on our transportation system. As a part of Vision Zero framework and Road Safety Program, A.S.E. has been identified as a road safety initiative to reduce vehicle operating speeds and the number of collisions on the roadways. A.S.E. is allowed in Community Safety Zones where the speed limit is below 80 km/h or in School Zones. A.S.E. is another tool available to municipalities along with existing education, enforcement and engineering solutions to control speeding in critical areas. The O.T.C. Working Group is collaborating with the Province of Ontario to develop the regulations under which the ASE program will operate. Simultaneously to this work, the City of Toronto is developing a Request for Proposal (R.F.P.) for equipment, related operations, maintenance and support for the Automated Speed Camera. The Province intends that A.S.E. offences would be processed through a single joint processing centre (J.P.C.), similar to the system that is currently used for Red Light Camera offences. The J.P.C. for Red Light Camera offences is managed and administered by the City of Toronto and staffed with Provincial Offences Officers. The City of Toronto is actively participating in the O.T.C. working group, and is taking the lead on the investigation and development of the business case and cost-sharing formula between the participating municipalities with the assumption that Toronto would host the J.P.C. for A.S.E. offenses. 5.3 O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group Update On May 30, 2017, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario amended the H.T.A. to authorize the use of A.S.E. technology. In order to enable this legislation, regulations must still be enacted by the province. The province is participating in the O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group so that municipalities can provide input on the regulations under which the A.S.E. program will operate. These regulations are expected in the summer of 2018. 8
Meeting Date: June 21, 2018 Page 4 The City of Toronto is working on the development of the R.F.P. for A.S.E. operations, and planning a Joint Municipal A.S.E. Processing Centre. The City of Toronto will finance these endeavors until a formal project cost distribution plan is arrived at with participating municipalities. The City of Toronto is working to develop a cost estimate to share with O.T.C. and participating municipalities. With respect to time frame, the field demonstration and evaluations are targeted for September 2018. It is anticipated that contract start-up, site design and installation could take up to one year to complete, with the first A.S.E. site commissioned towards the end of 2020. Similar to the Red Light Camera (R.L.C.) operations program, an A.S.E. steering committee will be established. The steering committee comprises municipalities that operate A.S.E., the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Attorney General, and the Ontario Information and Privacy Commission. The steering committee will ensure A.S.E. is operated cooperatively and consistently in each Ontario municipality, while ensuring effective operation and management of A.S.E. 5.4 Key Issues under Consideration The following key issues are still under consideration in the O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group. Expected impacts on court services; Enforcement thresholds; Initial warning period; Fixed location versus mobile enforcement; and Common designations of School Zones and Community Safety Zones. Currently, speeding ticket disputes are handled through the provincial court system, under the Provincial Offences Act (P.O.A.). A.S.E. regulation envisions the same process for disputes regarding ticket issues for A.S.E. offences. However, due to limited court resources, this is not a feasible means of enforcement. As an alternative, the working group is evaluating the use of an Administrative Penalty System for A.S.E., similar to the system currently used for resolving parking ticket disputes by some of the area municipalities. A consistent speed threshold (either a fixed value or on a percentage basis) will be required during setting the fine for the Speeding Violation. In most jurisdictions where A.S.E. has been deployed, an initial one to three month warning period is provided where infraction notices are issued but no fines are lived. It is anticipated that A.S.E. in Ontario will include a similar warning period. 9
Meeting Date: June 21, 2018 Page 5 A.S.E. can either be a fixed position (permanent sites that may operate during particular times of day, days of week or 24/7) or mobile units (in vehicle, tripod or trailer mounted equipment). The R.F.P. document will provide for the evaluation of a combination of fixed and mobile units. The legislation allows A.S.E. in School Zones and Community Safety Zones. The Community Safety Zone section of the H.T.A. gives officers the opportunity to issue a doubling of fines that will be applied on every infraction that is captured by an A.S.E. system. 5.5 Next Steps The City of Toronto has indicated that it will proceed with the development of the R.F.P. for A.S.E. operations and planning for a Joint Processing Centre (J.P.C.). The City of Toronto would finance these activities until such time that a formal project cost distribution with other interested municipalities is determined. The City of Toronto offer is contingent upon receiving letters from municipalities indicating their interest in participating in the A.S.E. R.F.P. and cost sharing, even though this letter does not infer a commitment to implement A.S.E. system by municipal councils. There is a general consensus from the participated members of the O.T.C. A.S.E. working group that the City of Toronto is best suited to undertake the R.F.P. for A.S.E. operations and planning for J.P.C. on behalf of participating municipalities. Economies of scale are realized when such efforts are undertaken as a group including consistency of operations and processes. That staff continue to work with the O.T.C. A.S.E. Working Group to develop the A.S.E. system process. By actively participating in the process, staff would have the opportunity to ensure that criteria relevant to traffic issues in Oshawa are suited to the A.S.E. technology. The cost associated with the equipment and administration of this program are not currently known but as more information is made available staff will report back to the Community Services Committee and Council to advise on the feasibility of this type of program in Oshawa. The Implementation of an A.S.E. system on the City roads would remain subject to future City Council approval. 6.0 Financial Implications There are no financial implications with respect to this report. 10
Meeting Date: June 21, 2018 Page 6 7.0 Relationship to the Oshawa Strategic Plan The recommendations in this report respond to the Oshawa Strategic Plan Goal of 4.3 Social Equity: An Active, Healthy and Safe Community Beth Mullen, Director, Strategic & Business Services Ron Diskey, Commissioner, Community Services Department 11