Could more red light and speed cameras be coming to Toronto streets?

If Toronto wants to expand its system of red light and automated speed cameras it needs to grow its own ability to administer fines to people breaking the rules. 

That's according to a city staff report headed to a key Toronto committee next week, which recommends city councillors approve extending the city's so-called "administrative penalty system" to include tickets issued by the automated devices. Right now, the city only uses the system to administer parking tickets. 

It means that after Nov. 1, 2024, anyone ticketed by a red light camera or automated speed enforcement camera would no longer be able to fight the fine in a provincial court. Instead, they would have to appeal to a hearing officer at a quasi-judicial city tribunal.

"Dispute resolution of these matters through an Administrative Penalty System frees up capacity within the Provincial Offences court system for the hearing of a high volume of other offences," city staff say in the report to councillors, which is headed to the Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday.

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, who chairs the group, says shifting the penalty system out of the courts will ensure the city doubles the number of speed cameras it has across the city in the coming years. In future, it could also allow the city to administer new fines, she said, such as ones for people who block busy downtown intersections.

"If we put this system in place, it will allow us to expand the automated speed enforcement program, which is something that council has asked for," she said.

"We currently have 75 speed cameras across the city. They are mostly in school zones. But we do know there's other community safety zones where there's a high need for the cameras."

Both the red light camera and automated speed camera programs are part of Toronto's Vision Zero road safety plan to reduce deaths and injuries on city streets. The city currently has nearly 300 red light cameras and council has authorized staff to increase the number of speed cameras to 150 as soon as possible.

Toronto spends just over $16 million a year on operating costs for both red light and speed enforcement programs. That is expected to jump to nearly $50 million by 2026 when the programs migrate to the new system and more cameras are in place.

The programs generated nearly $70 million in revenue in 2023.

Coun. Brad Bradford says it's not about the cash, it's about road safety — and the cameras work.

"There is an option to not get a ticket and it's obeying the speed limit," he said.

"We're not going out in an attempt to ticket every vehicle that's one or two kilometres an hour over," Bradford said.

 "But at the end of the day, we don't want people speeding in our neighbourhoods, in our community safety zones, past senior homes, past schools." 

Forty-four pedestrians died on Toronto's streets in 2016, the year Vision Zero was introduced. In 2023, 29 pedestrians died across the city, up from 22 the year before.

System could speed up ticket processing time: city staff

Coun. Stephen Holyday says the city finds itself in the unusual position of "voluntarily downloading" the cost to administer ticketing for automated traffic enforcement from the province. But there is some efficiency for people who have been ticketed under the new system because they'll no longer have to take time off work to appear in court and fight a ticket.

But critics of the shift to an administrative penalty system for parking infractions said the move prevents people from having their day in court and upends due process.

Holyday says reducing the backlog of serious cases in our courts, by removing things like traffic violations makes sense.

"You have to think about what is the best value for the time of a justice of the peace to ensure that things like tickets don't get delayed and caught up in the court system and ultimately dismissed," he said.

While the city could not say how much time will be saved by moving red light camera and speed camera tickets to this new program, the experience transitioning parking tickets from the provincial courts to an administrative penalty system in 2016 shows a reduction. 

City staff say it took an average of 68 days in 2021 to conclude the first dispute stage for parking penalties using the administrative penalty system.  Whereas in 2016, when parking offences were disputed in the Provincial Offences Courts, it took an average of 225 days.  

Holyday says any expansion of the automated ticketing programs warrants close scrutiny, because public buy-in is important.

Residents of the city seem to support the program and its goals, he said, but if they feel the system has shifted toward filling city coffers, that will be a problem.

"If we get into a zone where it becomes like an automated police officer, or … a gotcha situation across the city, I think you'd begin to lose public confidence," Holyday said. "So there's valid questions about how many red light cameras are needed out there."

Though the staff request comes to committee next week, it must ultimately be approved by city council in February.