TTC launches pilot to catch drivers who speed by open streetcar doors, could lead to automated tickets

Four TTC streetcars will have special new cameras on five major routes in hopes of stifling illegal passing of streetcar doors.

The TTC is launching a pilot today which will record drivers and cyclists who illegally pass open streetcar doors, and could being issuing traffic tickets if the program is successful.

Five of the transit network’s busiest streetcar routes, the 501 Queen, the 506 Carlton, the 504 King, the 511 Bathurst, and the 505 Dundas, will be affixed with cameras equipped with technology from B.C.-based Gatekeeper Systems.

The TTC says the cameras will measure how often the offence is committed and test the technology’s reliability for “future automated enforcement.” Tickets will not yet be issued, they said.

Passing the open doors of a streetcar while it is performing a curbside stop is illegal for all cars, vans, e-bikes, bikes, and scooters. The offence carries a fine of more than $180 and three demerit points for drivers, according to the TTC.

It says that between 2014 and 2025, at least 141 individuals have been hit by vehicles while boarding or exiting streetcars.

“Additionally, TTC customers and operators witness and report multiple violations and near misses every day,” the TTC wrote in a news release.

Mayor Olivia Chow was asked about the pilot and said while the program is just a test of technology, traffic tickets will be issued if the province allows, and wants, the city to do so.

“We are not giving tickets yet, but be warned: we are looking at you, we know who you are,” she said at an unrelated news conference. “It is a warning. Don’t pass a streetcar if there are lights flashing at you and it is stopped.”