City councillor wants to nix school-zone tickets on holidays

St. Vital councillor, meanwhile, wants to explore allowing more university students to ditch bus passes

Image | Winnipeg school zone speed limit

Caption: St. Charles Coun. Shawn Dobson wants to exclude holiday weekdays from the city's school-zone speed-reduction bylaw. (Brett Purdy/CBC)

Coun. Shawn Dobson wants the city to stop enforcing school-zone speed limits on holidays.
The St. Charles councillor has authored a motion to prevent the ticketing of motorists caught driving above 30 kilometres per hour on weekday holidays from September to June.
"The 30 kilometre zone was there to protect the kids going to and from school. It doesn't apply during the summer and it shouldn't during the breaks or during holidays," Dobson said Wednesday at city hall, during a break in the monthly council meeting.
"There's no reason for us to ticket when we know that there's no kids going to school."
This motion will be will be referred automatically to the next meeting of council's public works committee.
The City of Winnipeg has no plans to amend its school-zone speed-reduction bylaw to exclude holidays.
Former public works chair Coun. Janice Lukes said last fall if it was up to her, speed limits in school zones would be enforced 365 days a year to ensure slowing down near schools becomes an ingrained behaviour.

Media Video | CBC News Manitoba : City councillor wants to nix school-zone tickets on holidays

Caption: To some, it's a cash grab. To others, it's about safety. Winnipeggers have strong feelings about the reduced speed zones around schools. City hall reporter Bartley Kives shows us how one Winnipeg councillor wants to ease up on enforcement.

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Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman offered no opinion on the idea and said he would like to hear from experts before he comes to a conclusion.

St. Vital councillor wants U-pass tweak

Coun. Brian Mayes wants to see whether some university students who live at the fringes of the city can be exempt from buying U-passes.
The St. Vital councillor has authored a motion to examine the financial implications of allowing students who live outside the Perimeter Highway and outside Winnipeg Transit's service area but still within city limits to be exempt from buying the bus passes.
His motion, which will also be presented today, will be referred to the next public works committee meeting,