City exploring automated cameras for ‘block the box’ infractions on King Street corridor

CP24's Melissa Duggan reports on how the city is exploring the use of automated cameras to catch drivers blocking intersections on King Street corridor.

The city is exploring the use of automated cameras to catch drivers who block intersections along the King Street corridor, resulting in a backlog of streetcars.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday morning, Mayor Olivia Chow says the city and local police have asked the province for permission to start using existing cameras so King Street traffic agents can hand out tickets to “outrageous drivers” who block the intersection by entering it when there is not sufficient time to pass through prior to a red light.

“Right now, it’s only police officers that can give out traffic tickets,” Chow said. “The chief has been supportive of it. The City of Toronto has been asking for the power to do so, we are waiting (on) the provincial government to say yes.”

In report published last month, city staff said that the technology used for automated speed enforcement or red light camera cannot currently be used to issue tickets for so-called “blocking the box” infractions because the images they take are “insufficient” to demonstrate intentional blocking. However, in the report transportation staff called on the city to look into various enforcement camera technologies that could assist with identifying drivers who intentionally block intersections or park in bike lanes.

Once the city is granted approval to use police cameras to take photos for automatic enforcement, Chow says they will start to be able to ticket drivers disobeying the law and causing “serious congestion” along the transit priority corridor from Bathurst to Jarvis streets.

“Let’s say someone is blocking the box and then we charge them, because you can tell what (the) licences (are),” Chow said.

Based on analysis from the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, published in November 2023, it was found that less than half a percent of daily violations along this street actually get ticketed. To determine this, the report’s authors requested data on intersection-level vehicle movement and tickets from Toronto police from 2016 to mid-2023—the King Street Transit Pilot was launched in 2017.

“From this data, we find there are approximately 6,800 illegal turns and thru movements at intersections per day on the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, but less than 0.3% are being ticketed by Toronto Police, on average,” the report states, meaning an overwhelming majority of violators are not getting fined. If all violations were actually ticketed, the report noted it would bring in an estimated $685,000 daily.

Traffic data collected by the city revealed a “marked increase” in non-compliance from drivers in 2023, with an observed 110 violations per hour at the intersection of King and Yonge streets.

In response, the city enacted new measures to amp up streetcar travel along the corridor, which included increased “block-the-box” infractions—going from $90 to $450 at most intersections—and the addition of traffic agents at key intersections to mitigate congestion at rush-hour.

In Toronto’s budget for 2025, the city revealed it would be quadrupling the number of traffic agents in an effort to prevent box-blocking and other traffic concerns in key corridors—a move that will cost the city about $3 million.

On Tuesday, the mayor said the streetcar has been moving three times faster already, with data from February 2024 showing quicker journeys between University Avenue and Jarvis Street. According to the city, commuters were moving along the track in 17 to 21 minutes, reflecting a 28 to 44 minute drop from how long it used to take.

CTV News Toronto contacted Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman