Action 57 of the Vision Zero Guelph - Action Plan for Safe Streets…

44:36We have a delegation. And this is not in person, I believe. Good morning, Morgan. Can I just get

44:58you to turn your camera? Oh, there you are. Got you. Sorry, a little dark. Give you a minute. Okay.

45:07Thank you. So, you know, the five minutes presentation and then after your presentation,

45:13we will ask Council if they have any questions of clarifying nature. Go ahead.

45:18Thank you very much, Chair Boussettil. And Mayor, Councillors, I really just want to say thank you

45:27for putting together vision 0 with staff, making sure that nobody is killed on our roads due to

45:37a collision. One of the things that I really noted during the workshops last week is there were

45:47a number of Councillors that were saying that one of the things that they really wanted to make sure

45:54didn't have any degradation in budget is transit. We've already stretched transit

46:03so-called improvements. I call them bringing things up to a world-class level. I have to go to a

46:14doctor's appointment today. And if I have to take regular transit, I'm going to have to go on three

46:20buses. I'm super glad that I've got the ability to use the mobility transit and be able to have

46:30door-to-door service. But if I didn't have that option, I would literally have to take at least

46:38three separate buses to get from the ward to Stone Road Mall, essentially. So, one of the things that

46:49I believe really needs to happen as we are working through vision 0 is that we remember two things.

47:00One, cars are the things that create the congestion within the city. And two, our transit system

47:17does not work in a way that allows the majority of our residents to be able to have transit as an

47:26option. There was a challenge issued to counselors, not this iteration of counsel, but in the past,

47:36to take a week and use transit solely as their mode of transportation to get around.

47:47And from my memory, the only one that actually made a commitment to even trying was counselor alt.

47:54And he found that it was literally impossible for him to be able to use the transit system

48:02in this city to be able to get around to his meetings in the city. We were talking about

48:13parking. And one of the things that will happen as we improve our transit system

48:21is that less people will feel that they are obligated to have a car. The other thing that

48:29will happen is our employment system. Our employers will be happier because their employees will be

48:38able to get to and from work without having to create more traffic congestion because they have

48:45to use a car in order to get to work from where they live. I've used transit since I was two years old.

48:54My grandmother never had a driver's license. I am a strong advocate for transit. I didn't even get

49:01my driver's license until I was forced to by my mother at age 19 because the transit system

49:09where I grew up was such that I could get anywhere in the city that I wanted to be without having

49:17to use a car easily and quickly. Wealth needs to rapidly move to a grid system, modified grid,

49:28because of the way that our streets are. But we need to move to that modified grid system as

49:34quickly as possible because one of the things that's going to start happening as our economy

49:41is being decimated by the leader down south is people are going to have to give up their cars.

49:51Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the delegation? Seeing none, thank you very much

50:00Morgan. Okay, so can I have the motions put on the floor please? I've got Councillor Allt,

50:09Councillor Goller seconded. So the motions are on the floor. Are there any separations?

50:15I'm looking to Mayor Guthrie. There we go. Thank you. Mayor Guthrie.

50:22Well, thank you Madam Chair. So I did send a couple of amendments to my colleagues and to

50:32clerks and based on your leadership, your chair, you had indicated that you'd maybe like to go in

50:43order of one before the other. Which one would you like to do first? I'm sorry, I just can't remember.

50:52Thank you. So you are speaking to recommendation number one and in particular the action item

50:58number four in the attachment. If you can do that one and then number 57 next. And clerks have that.

51:06Perfect. So we'll go in in the right order. Thank you. So yeah, I'm sorry, I'm just waiting for,

51:15I think clerks are putting it up on the screen. My apologies. There it is. Okay. So it's that

51:20action four of the Vision Zero Guelph Action Plan for Safe Streets, the implementation of the Quality

51:25Transit Network, including the conversion of general traffic lanes to dedicated traffic lanes,

51:32be amended to require City Council approval prior to the implementation. And I just need a

51:40seconder for that. I think Councillor Billings had mentioned. Yeah. And so I think it's pretty,

51:48I think it's pretty straightforward that if anything warrants the removal of the lanes,

51:57that that has to come back to council. So we have that heads up in that discussion at that time.

52:03Both pros and cons to why that's being recommended and that the line of site for that decision is

52:10done in the public realm with the elected council to have that input at that time. That's it. I'll

52:18just stop there. Madam Chair, to see if there's anything further.

52:22Thank you. I have Councillor Allt. Thank you very much, Chair Busuttil.

52:27Thank you, Mayor Guthrie, for putting that forward on principle. I don't have

52:31any concerns with what is presented, but I would like to hear from staff because I think that this

52:36is a possibly an issue of implementation that might require some authorities. And I just want to

52:44get clear if there is any opposition or if it's clear sailing. Thank you. Through you,

52:53Chair Busuttil, to Councillor Allt. Certainly, from a staff perspective, implementing the

52:58quality transit network is direction that we have from council through the approval of the

53:02Transportation Master Plan in 2022. At that same time that I say that, of course staff are aware

53:07that things can continue to change over time. And with respect to implementing a transit system,

53:13has a change to physical lane use on the roadway system is certainly something staff will

53:19review, analyze the data and sort of come forward with that appropriate recommendation in terms of

53:25timing on when we think it's appropriate to implement that type of system. So there's no

53:29concerns with coming back to council with respect to an approval like that. But from a staff perspective,

53:35we do feel like that approval already is in place. Thank you very much. With that, I don't think I

53:42have any problems supporting the amendment. Thank you. Is there anything further from any

53:48other Councillor? Councillor Gibson? Speaking in support, just experience has shown me over the

53:57years that we approve a policy or we approve an approach and decisions are made. And it's tough

54:05for some residents to see those changes and then come to council and say, why did you approve this?

54:12Why did you approve that? And the easy answer for councillors is, well, I didn't approve that.

54:17I approved a policy that resulted in that. And I think that they're just, I'm welcoming of the

54:22accountability where we make tough decisions when it comes to transit, that it should be a

54:28committed decision of council so that we can look our constituents in the eye and say,

54:33we didn't just approve a strategy that resulted in that decision. We don't want to hide behind

54:38our staff. We need to be making those decisions in the public. And that's why I support on the

54:45big items this stuff coming back to council. Thank you, Councillor Chew. Thank you, Madam Chair,

54:55and through you. Yeah, I just want to say I have every confidence in our staff and they've demonstrated

55:00as well that they're very thoughtful and prepared whenever they come to us. And even when they

55:07liaise with us behind the scenes through email conversations. But for me, it's a very practical

55:13matter pertaining to my ward and I would assume Ward 5 as well. Just on Gordon Street, we're going

55:19to experience a lot of big changes coming up in the near future. And in the long term as well,

55:27there's going to be a discussion on how we're going to be more efficient with transit,

55:33especially with Route 99. So I think that public conversation would really help put people at ease

55:39and help just be radically transparent. And I think that's kind of the age in which we're

55:44living in now and, you know, our staff are very capable. So I have every confidence that we can

55:49facilitate those conversations when needed in an appropriate way. So I just want to say it really

55:55resonates with me. So I appreciate everyone's support on this. Thank you, Councillor Chew.

56:01Anything further? Seeing nothing, I'll call the question on the amendment. Is anyone opposed?

56:11Seeing none, that's unanimous. Thank you. Back to you Mayor Guthrie.

56:16Thank you, Madam Chair and through you. Excuse me. The number, the second one,

56:23is going to, I think, come up on the screen here. And this is more of an advocacy type of motion,

56:30but it's just in regards to action 57, the plan for safer streets be amended to add the words

56:37and testing. So it reads as follows review and support enhanced driver education training

56:45initiatives and testing with the Ministry of Transportation. And that's it. I'll look to see

56:54if there's a seconder. I guess going to see Councillor Klassen seconded. All right, you go ahead.

57:00I'll be quiet. Are there any speakers to this? Councillor Goller.

57:06Through you, Chair, just a question to staff, whether they had any concerns about adding the

57:11word testing and just to confirm that we're all on the same page. It's when someone's taking their

57:17their, their, their license tests on street. Through the chair to Councillor Goller, no concerns

57:23from staff. Is there anything further from any Councillors? Seeing none, I'll call the question.

57:31Is anyone opposed? Seeing none, that is unanimous. And now we're going to place the recommendations

57:40one as amended to and three call the question. Is anyone opposed? Oh, sorry, Councillor Goller.

57:47If I make questions, Chair. Thank you. Through you to staff, I just wanted to, to ask, I have

57:54received a few questions and I wanted to ask about action item 58, the one that talks about

58:00advocating to the Ministry of Transport to enhance minimum standard for winter maintenance.

58:05I just wanted to ask, since Council is approving the advocacy to, to improve this, is there any

58:12opportunity for the City of Guelph to actually increase our standard for winter maintenance

58:18around cycling and pedestrian safety in advance of the Ministry changing the, the regulations

58:28province-wide? Or, or do we really have to, to wait for the province to change their, their, their

58:35guidelines for the whole province? And then we, we can do a little bit more here in Guelph.

58:45So through the Chair to Councillor Goller and I do see my colleague Doug Godfrey's in the, in the

58:49audience. So he may want to add to this, but I think certainly we're always looking at how we can

58:54improve and, and, and learn from our practical experience and as new infrastructure gets implemented,

59:01you know, certainly that's something that we can continue to improve our practices with. At the

59:06same time, improving our levels of service would really probably be a budget enhancement, like a

59:10service enhancement through budget that our staff would have to, I think, consider and bring back

59:15at a future time. And so improvements come with the cost and I think it's kind of that straightforward.

59:21Okay. I appreciate that. And one other follow-up. Many of the messages that I saw from constituents

59:29talked about feeling that there was a little bit of a gotcha with the automated speed enforcement.

59:35I think many people did not realize that it was happening. So just to clarify, when the next round

59:40we're going to have more automated speed cameras in place, will there be any additional measures

59:47to make sure that it's more clearly visible that on this road there is a speed camera, like, you

59:54know, using ballers or some other physical tools? Through the Chair to Councillor Goller. So when,

1:00:04when we put out a speed camera, it's fairly prescribed for the province that the sign requirement,

1:00:09what we have done is we have put up additional signs. There's redundancy in the signs and as we

1:00:15talked about at the workshop and committee the whole, we also put it on our website. Typically

1:00:20local media picks it up as well. We do a public release once a year with all the locations. So

1:00:25we're, we're trying to be as transparent as possible while also sticking to the guidelines

1:00:31and requirements from the province. Okay. Okay. Just so that I'm clear, did you say that you put up

1:00:36additional signs above the minimum requirement by the province?

1:00:42So council, through the Chair to Councillor Goller, what we do is the sign that goes up,

1:00:47municipal speed camera and use sign is very prescriptive. It's set up by the province. What

1:00:53we do is we put up two or three of those signs. That way if one gets stolen, a pole gets knocked

1:00:59down. We're not relying on one singular sign. We have some redundancy to cover us off in the

1:01:06event something unforeseen happens. I really appreciate that and I'm really excited to see

1:01:11these changes come into place. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Is there anything further? Yes.

1:01:18Mayor Guthrie. Thank you. Hope you as quick as possible seeing the time frame there just because

1:01:24of the IT thing. So I just have a question through you, Madam Chair. To staff, can I just get

1:01:34an answer on, I have to ask this in the public realm because it needs to get out in the public

1:01:40realm. The time for processing these speed enforcement camera tickets, how's that going?

1:01:51Because that is the main complaint that people 30 days later are getting the tickets and the

1:01:59argument from them is if this is supposed to be about safety and change of behavior,

1:02:06then why aren't I knowing in a much quicker time frame? So can I hear from staff about how that's

1:02:13going on the processing and or is there anything else that's coming that can start to make people

1:02:20more aware that they are getting a ticket and it's processed faster? Through the Chair to Mayor

1:02:30Guthrie, we've actually had an update from our vendor lately that they're working on

1:02:35the ability to get the images to the processing center basically day of. So that's being

1:02:41piloted right now. So I am hopeful certainly by the time we do the expansion,

1:02:49point for August 1st, that that process might be in place. Okay. Okay. That's much better.

1:02:54And then my last quick question is do you happen to know the high level percentage of tickets issued

1:03:06within the certain most vulnerable times compared to sort of off times that are occurring?

1:03:17You know, there's a narrative of three o'clock in the morning type of tickets or things like that.

1:03:24But my and I'm not wanting to get into any details at all about when something's on or not or

1:03:33implemented or not. I don't want to get into any of that because people should be

1:03:37following the speed limit. But I do, I am curious to know are the bulk of tickets like happening

1:03:45around the around the moments where it's most vulnerable for our pedestrians, our walkers,

1:03:51our bikers, our, you know, our school kids that are around these school community safety zones.

1:03:58You know, what, what is the percentage there? Is it high? Is it 50-50?

1:04:03Through the chair to Mary Guthrie. When we going to be putting cameras in for the ASC,

1:04:16we are looking at at places and looking to have those cameras operate at times when

1:04:24our most vulnerable users of the road are at most risk. Okay. So without I, again, those cameras are

1:04:32always in operation. So I think you can expect that if you are are breaking the law that there

1:04:43are times when you are going to be getting a ticket. Are they operational all the time? I would say no,

1:04:50but those times that what we are trying to do the whole purpose of the program is to protect

1:04:57those most vulnerable users in those places where they are at the most risk. So I don't have a

1:05:02percentage specifically for you. I can't tell you that the tickets that are issued are the bulk

1:05:09of them would be during those times. Okay. Thank you. That addresses my my second question.

1:05:17So with that I'm done Madam Chair. Thank you for the time. Thank you. We have one minute

1:05:22before we do our IT exercise. Councillor Gibson is it one minute? Sure. Perfect. Thanks. Just

1:05:29comments. One quick question. Is there any time the most effective speed reduction tool that I've

1:05:36seen in our city is the center lane ballard when like literally residents slow down to a crawl to

1:05:43pass those things? They don't want to hit their window or hit the side of the car? Is there any way

1:05:47we can in the summertime anyway or the non winter season come sort of use them together? And this

1:05:53is a question to staff where we have our cameras in place, but we also have those center line

1:05:57balls because that in my experience has really helped along Grange for example in my end of town.

1:06:03Everyone slows down when those things are in place. Maybe a question to staff. Can we use them

1:06:07together? Through the chair to Councillor Gibson. Let me take that away and I'll get back to you.

1:06:17I don't offhand know a reason why we couldn't, but I don't have all of the AAC regulations

1:06:23loaded onto my heart drop here. So let me let me take that away and just confirm if there's any

1:06:29issue with that, but I appreciate the feedback and suggestion. I appreciate that Mr. Anderson,

1:06:33because again I do want to support this. Maybe a message from myself to the residents that I've

1:06:39spoken to is that this is this should never be seen and should never be intentionalized as a revenue

1:06:45stream for the city. The idea is that we receive zero revenue because no one is speeding and that's

1:06:50the message that I really want residents to hear that the core purpose of the of the cameras is to

1:06:56keep school zones safe during those core hours and I think residents by and large accept that.

1:07:03I think that the frustration comes again with the delay in receiving a ticket or if you're not the

1:07:08actual driver and perhaps a spouse or a child is driving your car, you're the one who gets the ticket.

1:07:14That being said those are all small pieces. The effort here is to protect vulnerable areas and

1:07:22residents of our city during core hours of those vulnerable times and again just from my experience

1:07:28thanks to Mayor Guthrie for asking those questions to staff because those have been important for me

1:07:32to hear and again my message to the city is it's not a revenue stream. It's not seen as and it should

1:07:39never be a revenue stream. Ideally we'd be spending money on this and having zero revenue because

1:07:44there would be no tickets being issued because everyone's driving the speed limit through these

1:07:49areas so thanks very much Chair Busetil. Thank you Councillor Gibson so we're at 1031. I'm going

1:07:55to call the question is anyone opposed to the vision zero recommendations as amended? Seeing

1:08:05that carries okay we're going to break now for 15 minutes so we can work together to resolve the IT

1:08:11connection to chamber issue. Thank you. Thank you Councillors and thank you especially to IT for

1:35:55walking us through this problem-solving exercise. Next on the agenda is item 8.2 which is public

1:36:03space use bylaw proposed amendment. Mayor Guthrie would like to speak to this and then we have one

1:36:09delegation. Chair I guess it would probably be more appropriate for the delegation to go first

1:36:19and then now we can move from there. Okay thank you Mayor we're going to try to reach out to