June 24, 2020
Today, City Council received an update on Mississauga’s Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program, an automated system that uses a camera and a speed measurement device to detect and capture images of vehicles travelling in excess of the posted speed limits. Council also approved several recommendations in the corporate report about speed management initiatives. Together, these projects will implement several safety actions in the Transportation Master Plan and advance the City’s commitment to Vision Zero.
“We continue to take action to make our roads safer for everyone. Mississauga is taking a thoughtful and planned approach to implementing Automated Speed Enforcement in Mississauga to ensure it is aligned with new provincial regulations and effective for years to come,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. Our goal is to keep our City safe and have zero deaths on our roads to achieve Vision Zero. To do this, we need to continue to lower speed limits in our neighbourhoods and implement speed reduction initiatives to create safer communities for our families to walk, cycle and play in. Given the recent rash of deadly speed-related accidents on roads across the GTA, we will be exploring how we can fast-track the implementation of ASE on major arterial roads.”
In addition to the ASE update, Council also received an update on the Neighbourhood Area Speed Limit Project. Before beginning the ASE program, a number of speed limit initiatives within the Neighbourhood Area Speed Limit Project need to be completed. This includes lowering speed limits to 30 km/h in neighbourhood school zones, implementing school area community safety zones, and lowering speed limits on residential streets to 40 km/h. The next step is to identify and implement these zones.
“We have heard repeatedly through the City’s Road Safety Committee that residents want lower speed limits in their neighbourhoods,” said Ward 9 Councillor Pat Saito and Chair of the Road Safety Committee. “A key piece to reducing speeds in our neighbourhoods is to first lower the speed limits followed by implementing Automated Speed Enforcement. This combined effort will be an important step forward in advancing Vision Zero in Mississauga.”
The report highlights the steps and processes required to implement ASE:
- Establish a Task Force to create court capacity for ASE
- Delay Phase 1 of ASE until January 2021 to allow necessary lowered school zone speed limits and community safety zones to be identified and signage installed
- Authorize staff to enter into agreements with the ASE vendor Redflex Traffic Systems (Canada) Limited, the City of Toronto Joint Processing Centre and the Ministry of Transportation
- Establish the City’s preferred method for dealing with ASE charges – issuing tickets under the Provincial Offences Act (POA) or through the Administrative Penalty System (APS) – a system of administering penalties used by a municipality to regulate by-laws
Once the above agreements are reached, the City can begin the ASE program six months later.
“The City has identified speeding as a problem on its roads and Council’s support of the implementation of these important speed initiatives will deliver on the actions in our Transportation Master Plan,” said Andy Harvey, Director, Traffic Management and Municipal Parking. “It is unfortunate that the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the implementation of both our Neighbourhood Area Speed Limit Project and ASE. However, we are continuing to position the City to deliver ASE in an efficient, yet co-ordinated effort.”
Harvey added that provincial-wide closures including the court system, due to the coronavirus pandemic, has impacted the delivery of Mississauga’s ASE program.
For more information on ASE, visit aseontario.com.
Background
The Ontario Government amended Bill 65 – the Safer School Zones Act in 2017. This Act amended the Highway Traffic Act to introduce the use of ASE in school zones and community safety zones across the province. Ontario municipalities worked jointly with the Ontario Traffic Council to plan the implementation of ASE. In October 2019, Mississauga City Council approved amendments to the Traffic By-Law that will gradually lower speeds on residential streets from 50 to 40 km/h. To-date, 11 neighbourhoods have received 40 km/h signage at the entry and exit points.