Canada: Toronto Mayor Tory announces next steps in Vision Zero Road Safety Plan for school zones

These initiatives are reportedly part of the City’s $86-million Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and will coincide with a Toronto Police Service school zone safety campaign. 

Toronto Mayor John Tory, joined by Deputy Chief Peter Yuen from the Toronto Police Service, Yvonne de Wit, Director of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention with Toronto Public Health, and Barbara Gray, General Manager, Transportation Services, made the announcement yesterday at Cornell Junior Public School in Scarborough, Ontario.

“The safety of all pedestrians, but particularly children, must be a priority in this city. One pedestrian death is one too many," Tory was reported to state. We are working to prevent these deaths and protect our residents across the city. "We all have a responsibility to share our streets in a courteous and safe way. I am committed to making sure all those who use our roads – pedestrians, cyclists and drivers – can get where they need to go as safely and efficiently as possible."

“These tragedies are unacceptable," Yuen reportedly said. "Toronto Police Service is committed to doing everything we can to make our roads safer. Over the next two weeks, officers will be paying special attention to drivers, pedestrians and cyclists who commit traffic violations that may jeopardize pedestrian safety in school zones.”

Measures planned for the first quarter of 2018 in school zones include: A two-week “Slow Down Toronto” campaign by the Toronto Police Service in school zones beginning on March 19 to support the City of Toronto's Vision Zero initiative with a focus on traffic enforcement and driver education on speed, distracted driving and aggressive driving; a one-year pilot project by Toronto to provide  in-road traffic calming signs ( not to be confused with pedestrian crossing locations)  --  placed in the middle of the roadway to remind motorists that they are in a school zone and to slow down -- in 12 school zones across the city; acceleration of the School Safety Zone program for  80 schools in 2018.

Comprehensive reviews across the city would be conducted by Transportation Services staff for additional safety improvements in a larger footprint around the school to improve the safety of children routes when walking to school.

Various safety measures would reportedly be implemented by Toronto City in front of schools including:  new school zone safety signs with flashing beacons; school zone pavement stencils; "watch your speed" driver feedback signs; zebra markings at school crosswalks; examination of placing a school crossing guard at major crossings, and traffic calming measures beyond the frontage of schools.

"The safety of all road users remains my top priority. We are committed to reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries on our roads and will be aggressively implementing a number of measures to make Toronto's roads safer," Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West), Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee was reported to state.

Several other initiatives reportedly planned for 2018, include: implementation of an automated speed enforcement pilot; painted curb extensions to reduce crossing distances; introduction of a mobile "watch your speed" program; more safety zones to be installed for the safety of senior safety as well as on pedestrian corridors, and conducting more audits to ensure safety of cyclists and more.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)