TORONTO -- More than 1,800 parking tickets were handed out on during a six-week pilot project aimed at reducing congestion and towing times along Queen Street.
The project, which took place between Fallingbrook Road and Roncesvalles Avenue, was supposed to help ease traffic congestion during the afternoon rush by towing illegally parked cars to designated side streets instead of a police point.
“Traffic congestion caused by illegally parked vehicles is frustrating and dangerous for transit riders, cyclists, pedestrians and drivers,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a news release issued back in October. “The sooner we can get those vehicles moved, and get others on their way, the better.”
It takes about 90 minutes for a tow truck to move one illegally parked car and then return to the area, the city said.
According to traffic services, officers handed out 1,818 parking violation notices over the six weeks the pilot was active. Officers also relocated 426 vehicles and “released on scene” 66 vehicles.
“There was a 71 per cent increase in ticketed parking violations and a 56 per cent increase in vehicle relocations during the 2019 project versus the same period in 2018,” officials said in a news release issued Saturday.
Officials also said that tow truck response times were shortened and traffic was able to “move more freely” during the afternoon rush hour.
The data collected during the project will be used to assess the impact the towing had on traffic flow and ongestion.
The pilot began on Oct. 7 and ended on Nov. 15.
