Improving Road Safety in Ottawa

From the desk of Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson

As we look forward to the beginning of the new school year, I want to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of our teachers, administrators and the entire community, as we work together to ensure the safety of students and staff returning to schools across the city.

At this time of year, particularly as more residents return to the office for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the number one concern for parents and educators is road safety in school zones and in residential neighbourhoods.

I’m pleased to share an update on the steps being taken by the City of Ottawa through our Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP) to address issues of speeding and reckless driving.

Two years ago, the city launched an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) pilot project. Today, 14 cameras can be found in community safety zones where speeding is a risk to our most vulnerable road users, our children. Data from the pilot period shows that ASE has a positive impact on reducing speeding and increasing safety in school zones in Ottawa:

• 200 percent increase in compliance with the speed limit, and
• 72 percent decrease in drivers traveling at 15 km/h over the speed limit.

As of January 2022, over 125,000 tickets have been issued, generating approximately $8.1 million in revenue, which is all reinvested into the City of Ottawa’s road safety initiatives. Working with our partners at Safer Roads Ottawa, we are using education, engineering and enforcement to promote greater road safety for all users.

Additionally, the city has equipped nearly 75 intersections with red-light cameras to reduce aggressive driving behaviours. Studies have shown that dangerous red light running can decrease by as much as 42 percent within a few months of a camera being installed. I am confident that we will see some further reductions in dangerous driving as we expand these initiatives across Ottawa in the years to come.

I hope this shines a light on how seriously we have to take road safety in every community, and particularly in school zones – and how essential photo-radar and red-light cameras will be in addressing some of this dangerous behaviour. I’d like to wish all those returning to school and work a safe and enjoyable fall!

For more information regarding the City’s road safety initiatives, please visit:

https://ottawa.ca/en/parking-roads-and-travel/road-safety/road-safety-action-plan

[Editor’s note: For more articles on road safety, see Safety Council desperately seeking crossing guards and Cyclist collisions re-kindle safety concerns.]