The Decision Document is for preliminary reference purposes only.  Please refer to the Committee's Report to City Council or to the Minutes for the official record.   How to Read the Decision Document: Recommendations of the Committee to City Council appear after the item heading. Other action taken by the Committee on its own authority, which does not require Council’s approval, is listed in the decision document under the heading “Decision Advice and Other Information”. Declarations of Interest, if any, appear at the end of an item.  Minutes Confirmed – Meeting of June 3, 2009

 

The purpose of this report is to submit the 2007/2008 Mediation Agreement Interim Compliance Report to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee by the General Manager of Toronto Water on behalf of the Implementation and Compliance Monitoring Committee (ICMC).

 

The Interim Compliance Report summarizes the ICMC’s concerns with respect to the implementation of the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant Environmental Assessment Mediation Agreement and provides a set of responses for each concern raised in an attachment to this report. Toronto Water is committed to the implementation of these plans and to completing the few remaining tasks in order to fulfill the commitments contained within the Mediation Agreement.

This report responds to a request by City Council to report on options to assist with downspout disconnection, the quantity of impervious area in the Basement Flooding Study areas, a suggestion to involve the community in catch basin cleaning and establishing a priority response for extreme basement flooding.

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends that:

 

1.         City Council authorize the General Manager of Transportation Services to establish a new class of car-sharing parking permit and to issue such permits to car-share organization(s)/company(ies) at an annual cost of $200.00 plus applicable taxes for each such permit, on the terms and conditions generally as set out in this report.

 

2.         City Council authorize the City Solicitor, in consultation with the General Manager of Transportation Services, to make application to the Senior Regional Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice for set fines with respect to the offences created by the pilot program.

 

3.         City Council request the General Manager of Transportation Services to evaluate the pilot program and report back to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee within one year after its implementation with his findings.

 

4.         City Council request the General Manager of Transportation Services to work with Zipcar and Autoshare throughout the pilot project period to identify other potential on-street parking opportunities throughout the City and include their findings in his report at the conclusion of the pilot project period.

 Supporting the provision of on-street, reserved parking spaces for car-share vehicles in selected locations is one of the Sustainable Transportation Initiatives: Short-term Proposals adopted by City Council at its meeting on October 22 and 23, 2007 (Item PW9.2).  This report is requesting approval of a pilot program that will allow Transportation Services to identify on-street parking areas exclusively for use by car-share vehicles.  Use of the parking areas will be administered by means of a new class of car-sharing permit issued by Transportation Services to a car-share company/organization at an annual cost of $200.00 for each permit plus applicable taxes (for the duration of the pilot program). The fee will cover the cost of implementing the pilot program (signs, pavement markings, bicycle rings where necessary). The pilot program is intended to be revenue neutral.

 

Subject to approval of this pilot program by the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, a separate report will be submitted to Toronto and East York Community Council for approval to delineate a total of 6 car-share parking areas dispersed over 5 streets (Emily Street, Ed Mirvish Way, Jordan Street, Gould Street, and Mutual Street) in the downtown area, providing a total of 20 parking spaces.

 

If this proposal is approved, staff will monitor the pilot program over the ensuing year and report back to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee within one year after its implementation with their findings.

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee referred the Member Motion (August 7, 2009) from City Council to the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, and the Medical Officer of Health, for a report to the appropriate Committee.

City Council on August 5 and 6, 2009, referred Motion MM38.2 to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

 

Recently, City Council has prioritized the user groups in public space and public roads within the City of Toronto. The four groups are prioritized as follows: 1) pedestrians; 2) cyclists; 3) transit riders; and lastly, 4) vehicle drivers.

 

Since cyclists are now considered as priority #2 on the public highway, it is being modified to accommodate these cyclists. Accordingly, with more space on our roads being given over to cyclists, more rights are being given over to cyclists, and with increased rights come increased responsibility. Cyclists need to be made aware of this increased responsibility for safe use of our roads.

 

Safe use of our roads must include the safety of the cyclists themselves; cyclists must be protected against the foreseeable dangers on our roads. Conflict between cyclists, cars and most particularly trucks, and as well conflict between cyclists themselves, create potentially dangerous conditions. A collision between a cyclist and a car or truck can result in life-altering injuries or death, particularly for the cyclist involved. A collision between a cyclist and another cyclist can also result in a serious outcome, if not from the impact itself, then because of the cyclists falling into oncoming vehicular traffic which results in another collision. It is not at all rare for a cyclist to experience a disabling head injury from a collision and for that cyclist to become  incapacitated and not be able to provide for his or her family.

 

Cyclists have equipment at their disposal to increase their safety, such as sounding bells, reflectors, lights and helmets. By far, the most important safety equipment to the cyclist is the helmet.

 

Currently, all cyclists under 18 years old must wear helmets to use roads and sidewalks in Ontario. Cyclists 18 years old and older are allowed to use their own discretion and choose whether they wear a helmet or not. This law came into effect in 1995; in the ensuing 14 years, cycling in Ontario has increased incredibly, particularly in Toronto. Since 1995, several cities have passed additional bylaws to further protect their citizens from harm. It should be mandated that all cyclists must wear a helmet as it is for others that share our roads, such as motorcyclists and scooter drivers. Also, since bicycles are deemed vehicles and cyclists must obey the Highway Traffic Act, we should make sure we address their safety similar to other vehicles and not similar to the pedestrian as they are currently.

 

Since the applicable Provincial law was passed nearly a decade and a half ago and the
conditions of safety for a cyclist in Toronto are different than in any other part of the Province, the City of Toronto needs to have its own rules for cyclists, the first of which needs to be the requirement to wear a helmet. It is not reasonable to continue to allow cyclists in Toronto this discretion regarding wearing a helmet or not - the potential dangers are too many.

 

(Submitted to City Council on August 5, 2009 as MM38.2)

City Council on August 5 and 6, 2009, referred Motion MM38.3 to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

 

Recently, City Council prioritized the user groups in public space and public roads within the City of Toronto. The four groups are prioritized as follows: 1) pedestrians; 2) cyclists;
3) transit riders; and lastly, 4) vehicle drivers.

 

Accordingly, with more space on roads being shared with cyclists, there is an increased responsibility to ensure public safety for cyclists.  Cyclists need to be made aware of this increased responsibility for safe use of our roads. Also, City Council needs to put in place a system to adequately regulate cyclists in a manner commensurate with their increased rights and responsibilities.

 

Bicycle Operator/Cyclist licensing is a method of increasing awareness of the existing rules and regulations applicable to cyclists, such as the Highway Traffic Act. Also, licensing provides for a formalized relationship between the City and cyclists which the City can use to promote safe use of bicycles, highlighting requirements for mandatory bicycle equipment such as sounding-bells, reflectors and lights. Furthermore, licensing would provide for more effective enforcement of the applicable laws and clarify collision situations. Currently, there is not a requirement for a cyclist to carry personal identification so it is difficult for Police or citizens to manage collisions between pedestrians, cyclists and drivers due to the fact that a cyclist can just walk away from the incident; this is particularly troubling if the cyclist is at fault. Also, it is difficult for a Police officer to give a ticket for a moving violation of the Highway Traffic Act to a cyclist who is not required to have personal identification on their person and therefore few tickets are issued.

 

Cyclist licensing seems to be preferential to bicycle (vehicle) licensing since the main benefit of bike licensing would be increased recourse in the event of bicycle theft and there are already anti-theft processes (i.e. bicycle registration with the Police) in place that have the same efficacy as a new system of bicycle licensing. Cyclist licensing would also be preferential in order to allow a cyclist to use more than one bicycle.

 

The Chair of the City's Cycling Committee, Councillor Adrian Heaps, is in support of licensing cyclists like automobile drivers, as stated in a Toronto Star article of May 23, 2009. He states that licensing cyclists would be a mechanism to facilitate enforcement of the Highway Traffic Act provisions, just as licensing is for automobile drivers.

 

Between 1935 and 1956, the City of Toronto required licenses for all bicycles and issued license plates to be displayed on bicycles. In the last 25 years, City Council has considered licensing cyclists and/or bicycles at least four times. 

 

Now that the City of Toronto has adopted a formal and aggressive policy to dedicate more of the city streets to cyclists and Toronto has never had such a policy in the past, it is time to license cyclists as bicycles once were. It is time to match a cyclist's responsibilities with a cyclist's rights and require that all cyclists be licensed.

 

(Submitted to City Council on August 5, 2009 as MM38.3)

The Etobicoke York Community Council on April 21, 2009, referred a motion by Councillor Palacio to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommending that:

 

1.         The General Manager, Transportation Services be directed to report to the September 14, 2009 meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the feasibility of the following recommendations to improve snow clearing operations in the Etobicoke-York District within existing resources:

 

a.         The feasibility of streets with slopes over a minimum incline/grade level be prioritized at the level of arterial roads;

 

b.         The feasibility of priority snow plowing on streets which have on-street parking or which are otherwise narrow, before any other district residential streets;

 

c.         The feasibility of prohibiting overnight parking on all district streets with no on-street parking, to facilitate plowing;

 

d.         The feasibility of alternating parking continuing throughout the winter months to accommodate snow plowing on both sides of the street, possibly beginning with a pilot project in several Wards;

 

e.         The feasibility of laneway plowing the centre of laneways wide enough to accommodate existing small-scale plows;

 

f.          The current status of the Seniors Sidewalk Snow Removal Program, including current wait times, and how this program can be upgraded and improved to ensure that seniors have their sidewalks cleared within 12 hours of a major snowfall;

 

g.         The feasibility of opening Toronto Parking Authority parking lots, civic centre, community centre and TDSB/TCDSB parking lots following large snowfalls that disrupt on-street parking and block access to residents’ driveways, to allow curb-to-curb snow plowing to take place; and

 

h.         The feasibility of high pedestrian traffic sidewalks and main streets being cleared within 12 hours of a major snowfall.

Councillor Frances Nunziata requesting that the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee request staff to report back to the Committee on the savings/losses realized since 2007 as a result of bringing collection services in-house for the former City of York.

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee referred the selection process for future temporary drop-off sites to the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, for appropriate action and that the following be given consideration:

 

1.         developing a policy that prohibits the use of City of Toronto parks, parks properties and facilities for temporary garbage dumps during City employee labour disruptions;

 

2.         that Public Works sites or other City properties located in commercial or industrial zoned areas be used for temporary dumps sites only;

 

3.         in the event of a future strike by City employees, that temporary dump sites not be opened until the second week of the strike; and

 

4.         City Councillors in wards where future temporary dumps may be located be fully consulted prior to the placement of temporary dumps.

 

Councillor Sandra Bussin submitting recommendations respecting the use of City of Toronto parks, parks properties and facilities for temporary garbage dumps during City Employee Labour disruptions.