Are Toronto’s Red Light Cameras Working?

There can’t be anything worse in Toronto’s already non-stop traffic jams than someone running a red light at an intersection. It’s dangerous, and in the worst cases can be outright deadly.

To fight the problem, the city’s instituted a now well-known program that makes use of rotating cameras at the places where the worst dangers – and the worst offenders – tend to put their foot on the gas.

There are cameras poised to catch you in the act at dozens of intersections, rotated in such a way that drivers can never be sure if the lens is focused on them or not. And more are coming.

Fines are $180 if your licence plate is snapped – and that doesn’t include a $35 victim surcharge, an expensive lesson for any driver.

“The last five years we’ve issued about 50,000 tickets,” confirmed Councillor Glen De Baeremaeker. “That means in Toronto, 50,000 people have run a red light.”

The city approved more of cameras last April, but they haven’t hit the streets yet and De Baeremaeker admits it’s costing them millions of dollars in lost fines while the added eyes are delayed. He adds that the project is in no way a “cash grab.”

“It costs us money to operate the cameras, costs us money to send you a ticket, it costs us money to send lawyers to send you to court,” insists De Baeremaeker. “It’s revenue neutral.”

But even though it would appear to be an excellent safety measure, a new question has emerged: are they working?

“The good news is, where we have the cameras accidents go down by about 66 per cent,” De Baeremaeker says. “So if you’re driving a car or walking to work that’s the intersection you want to be at because they’re safer.”

But not all drivers agree. Some charge the lights are not signed properly and if people don’t know they’re being snapped, the deterrent isn’t really deterring.

“Around 6am … we sit out here and up until the end of July we would count an easy 20 to 22 pictures every morning,” said construction foreman Brian Heavran, who works near a red light camera at Gerrard and University.

The city hopes to have 100 rotating cameras fully operational by the end of 2009.

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Here’s a list of where the cameras could be while you’re navigating the mean streets of the city.

Albion Rd & Silverstone Dr

Allen Rd & Sheppard Ave

Bathurt St & Finch Ave

Bathurst St & Sheppard Ave W

Bayview Ave & Cummer Ave 

Bayview Ave & Fifeshire and Truman Rd

Birchmount Rd & Huntingwood Drive

Birchmount Rd & Steeles Ave E

Bloor St. & Bathurst St.

Brimley Rd. & Huntingwood Dr.

Danforth Ave. & Broadview Ave.

Dixon Rd. & Islington Ave.

Dixon Rd. & Martin Grove Rd.

Dufferin St. & Bloor St.

Dufferin St. & Eglinton Ave.

Dufferin St. & St. Clair Ave.

Dufferin St. & Steeles Ave.

Dundas St. & Keele St.

Dupont St & Lansdowne Ave

Eglinton Ave & Bermondsey

Eglinton Ave. & Don Mills Rd.

Eglinton Ave. & Markham Rd.

Eglinton Ave. & Martin Grove Rd.

Eglinton Ave. & Pharmacy Ave.

Ellesmere Rd. & Brimley Rd.

Ellesmere Rd. & Markham Rd.

Finch Ave. & Don Mills Rd.

Finch Ave. & Jane St.

Finch Ave. & Kipling Ave.

Finch Ave. & Weston Rd.

Kingston Rd. & Morningside Ave.

Kingston & Port Union and Sheppard Ave E

Lake Shore Blvd. E/B & Yonge St.

Lakeshore Blvd W & York St

Lawrence Ave & Leslie

Lawrence Ave. & Markham Rd.

Lawrence Ave W & Marlee 

Lawrence Ave. & Warden Ave.

Lawrence Ave. & Victoria Park Ave.

Leslie & York Mills Rd

Parliament & Richmond St E

St. Clair & Victoria Park Ave.

Steeles & Carpenter Rd.

Steeles & Hilda Ave.

Steeles Ave. & Warden Ave.

University Ave. & Gerrard St.

Weston Rd. & Lawrence Ave.

Yonge St. & Eglinton Ave.

Yonge St. & Finch Ave.

Yonge St. & Richmond St.

Yonge St. & Steeles Ave.

Yonge St. & Wellesley St.

Yonge St. & York Mills Rd.