A person riding a scooter, and a cyclist, both head westbound on Richmond St. West approaching University Ave. on June 13.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
A surge in pedestrian deaths on the streets of Toronto in 2016 shook the city. Drivers killed an average of almost one person every week. The carnage stoked a dawning realization at city hall that the deaths were not random accidents; that the city’s streets were in fact designed in a way that made them inevitable.
Toronto responded in 2017 with Vision Zero. The idea that there should be no traffic fatalities on city streets began in Scandinavia in the late 1990s. Toronto’s initial effort was too little – deaths remained elevated – and so the city bolstered its policies in 2019. They are finally making a difference. The city is still far from the finish line of zero, but there have been major gains.
Before the pandemic, from 2013 through 2019, an average of 39 pedestrians were killed each year. The high of 44 came in 2016. Deaths plunged during the worst of the pandemic but have remained lower than in previous years. In 2022, 22 pedestrians were killed. This year is similar, with 14 pedestrians killed as of late July.
There are also fewer serious injuries: 94 in 2022, down by close to a third from the 2013-19 average of 138. This year, 41 pedestrians have been seriously injured, half the prepandemic rate.
Given the widespread impact of the pandemic on the flow of people and cars across and through the city, it’s difficult to make any definitive declarations. But it appears that the interventions Toronto has put in place are slowly making a difference and saving lives.
Cities in the 20th century were specifically designed for the primacy of the car – to move from point A to B as quickly as possible. Pedestrians were an afterthought. Cyclists were ignored. Vulnerable seniors often suffered the most.
The changes brought in by cities that have embraced Vision Zero aim to overhaul outdated planning. There are simple moves, such as lowering the speed limit, or adding crosswalks on long stretches between traffic lights. Enforcement is important, too – the risk of a fine, whether speeding or running a red.
But it is physical changes that are key, everything from narrower lanes that effectively choke off the ability to speed (and provide more space for sidewalks and bike lanes) to speed humps and other street features that further slow cars. These “geometric changes,” Toronto city staff say, “really force people to drive more slowly, turn more carefully.”
Automated enforcement using cameras can underpin change when delivered in combination with lower speed limits and redesigned streets. In Edmonton, data show that the number of drivers who were hit with multiple tickets plunged by three-quarters with the continuing use of automated enforcement. The cameras changed behaviour, the city concluded. The prospect of an expensive ticket is a “strong deterrent to speeding.”
Toronto deployed 50 cameras in 2020 – far too few – and recently added another 25. Former mayor John Tory described them as “a proven, data-driven Vision Zero tactic” and wanted to further double the number of cameras. Other cities are hesitant. Vancouver this year lowered speed limits on busy streets near some elementary schools but city council, run by the centre-right ABC party, didn’t include enforcement as part of the strategy. Taking only one of several necessary steps won’t solve the problem.
Understanding the full picture is another strategy. In Edmonton, where pedestrian deaths are down about 30 per cent since 2015, one part of the work is a detailed analysis of crashes that will inform physical changes in the city. Edmonton found that crashes often occur along certain busy, fast roads and in a limited number of neighbourhoods.
Crashes are called accidents – drivers don’t make mistakes on purpose. But what the Vision Zero approach emphasizes is that such errors don’t have to lead to deaths. Better-designed streets that discourage dangerous speeds help minimize the consequences of driver errors.
While cities like Toronto have made progress, change is slow. Consider the corner of Deauville Lane and St. Dennis Drive, in the densely populated suburban Flemingdon Park neighbourhood. A decade ago, city hall had it ranked as the second-most dangerous intersection in Toronto, but it’s only this year that changes to make it safer are planned.
The road to Vision Zero is too long. Cities need to speed up work to slow down cars. It will save lives.