Illegal traffic slowing Toronto's streetcars

Five years ago, a pilot program was launched in Toronto to give full priority to streetcars along King Street and prevent car owners from driving through the intersections. However, latest figures show that travel times are actually slower tham they were when the pilot first began. 

 

This is due to a build up in downtown congestion due to extended construction projects which is causing some desperate drivers to escape the jams by breaking the law. 

 

As well as potentially damaging critical insfrastructure, they are themselves causing congestion along the route as streetcars themselves become stuck along the road. 

 

As the problem threatens to worsen due to a lack of enforcement and funds, the council have decided to install automatic enforcement cameras to survey the route and help prevent drivers from breaking the law.  

 

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said there has been a lot more encroachment from vehicles in the area. “We’re certainly seeing a lot of illegal use of it. People going through intersections they should not go through and we’re seeing people using it as a detour to get around the construction downtown.” 

 

“You can see it when you’re down there. The streetcars are trucks stuck in traffic and this is exactly what the King Street pilot was meant to eliminate,” said Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of Urban Infrastructure. 

 

Toronto police have issued over 22,000 tickets, an average of 5,000 tickets per year to vehicles for drivers failing to obey the posted signage