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Over 1,800 parking tickets issued in 6-week Queen Street towing blitz

Toronto police say they issued more than 1,800 tickets during their six-week towing blitz that launched on Queen Street last month. 

426 vehicles were relocated to side streets instead of car pounds, police say

CBC News ·
During the announcement of the project on Oct. 4, Mayor John Tory said the towing pilot could be made permanent if it was successful in speeding up the flow of cars and transit vehicles. 'And we're going to, of course, combine that with automated speed enforcement, red light cameras,' he added. (Yanjun Li/CBC News)

Toronto police say they issued more than 1,800 parking tickets during a six-week towing blitz they launched on Queen Street last month. 

Announced on Oct. 4, the project was in effect during rush hour along all of Queen Street, between Fallingbrook Road to the east and Roncesvalles Avenue to the west.

During that time, tow trucks relocated illegally parked vehicles to certain side streets instead of far-off car pounds. 

And while tickets were handed out to anyone caught breaking the law, the towing fees normally paid by those drivers were waived. Instead, the city footed the bills through the project's $80,000 budget.

The blitz, which ended Nov. 15, resulted in 1,818 tickets, 426 vehicles relocated and 66 vehicles released on scene. 

"The project shortened tow truck response times and facilitated a rapid removal of vehicles off Queen Street during the afternoon rush hour and allowed traffic to move more freely during these periods," Toronto police said in a news release Saturday. 

56% increase in vehicle towed

In total during the pilot project, police say there was a 71 per cent increase in ticketed parking violations and a 56 per cent increase in vehicle relocations compared to the same period in 2018.

When Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the project last month, he said the towing pilot could be made permanent if it was successful in speeding up the flow of cars and transit vehicles.

Police say that program data and analytics were gathered in order to assess the impacts on traffic flow and congestion, which will be used to to determine possible future recommendations to improve traffic within the city. 

While road safety advocates slammed the city for its investment, saying the project was more about traffic flow than a safety solution, Tory said that there's increased pressure on the city to "keep people moving in different ways and to keep them safe." 

With files from Lauren Pelley

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