UTTRI associated faculty Professor Matti Siemiatycki, Director of the Infrastructure Institute at School of Cities, comments on the 58 fatalities on Toronto roads in 2021, saying that widespread changes are needed to protect all road users.
He points to the need for redesign of many streets to slow down cars and better protect pedestrians and cyclists.
The inner suburbs like Etobicoke and Scarborough in particular need to be redesigned for pedestrian and cyclist safety, with a focus on protecting those most vulnerable road users like seniors and children, he said.
Up until now, Vision Zero measures have been incremental or sometimes “one step forward, two steps back,” when widespread change is actually required, said Siemiatycki. That means narrowing not just some roads, but most roads and to add more and longer traffic lights not just downtown but in the surrounding communities, too, he suggested.