Council Highlights: Sheppard Complete Street, Crisis Response on the TTC, Managing Stormwater
- councillorcarroll
- Oct 9
- 8 min read
This week, City Council meets for the first time since July, and there’s a lot on the table. As we head into our busy fall season, council will be making decisions that affect housing, transit safety, climate resilience, and public investment across our city.
We’re entering an important period of budget consultations, and the discussions this week set the stage for how we prioritize resources and support our communities. Some of the key items include: advancing affordable rental housing in Quayside, updates on micromobility and automated speed enforcement, pilot programs to manage stormwater on private property, expanding community crisis response on the TTC, and protecting public investment along Sheppard Avenue East.
I’ll be watching these conversations closely and sharing updates so our community knows what’s happening at City Hall.
IE24.4 - Review of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Ticket Appeals Process & IE24.13 - Optimizing the Automated Speed Enforcement Program to Stop Speeding
Council has spent a lot of time discussing automated speed cameras, and while I don’t want to take up too much of your time rehashing my full position—you can read my previous E-Blast on this here - I do want to share some important facts that help set the record straight.
Many people worry that the fines collected are a “cash grab” for the City, but the numbers tell a very different story. In 2024, Toronto collected $37.3 million from automated speed enforcement and $25.3 million from red light cameras, for a total of $62.6 million in fine revenue. A significant portion—24% of everything collected—goes directly to the Province, including charges for victim services.
About a third of the revenue covers the City’s costs to run the program, and the remaining funds—just over 40%—are reinvested in Vision Zero initiatives, from funding dedicated police officers for road safety, to supporting school crossing guards and public education campaigns, to capital projects that make our streets safer.
This also shows how we’re taking a multi-pronged approach to road safety. Some of the alternatives to speed reduction that Premier Ford has suggested are partially funded by these fines, meaning we are using every available tool to protect people on our streets. While we continue to advocate for provincial support and clarity, I remain optimistic that together we can build a system that works for everyone—keeping Toronto’s roads safe without compromising public accountability. City Council also voted to install larger warning signs, launch a pilot project to apply decorative high-visibility vinyl wraps on select cameras to better alert drivers, and introduce a “blackout” period so that a driver fined for speeding once cannot receive another ticket for seven days. These changes aim to ease the burden on residents who may have unintentionally been speeding, while still ensuring the program protects vulnerable road users.
Back in 2020, I moved the original motion to pilot the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS), and its citywide expansion has been a tremendous success. Since then, TCCS has received more than 29,000 calls and dispatched mobile crisis teams over 23,000 times, resolving most situations without police involvement and proving that a community-based, health-focused response works.
Building on that success, the City is now piloting embedded TCCS teams on the TTC, starting this November in the U-Zone of Line 1 (Yonge–University). These mobile teams, made up of trained crisis workers, will respond directly on platforms to support individuals in distress, coordinating with TTC social service partners for ongoing care. The pilot will run through April 2026, ensuring timely, trauma-informed interventions where they’re most needed.
These TCCS crisis workers will operate in addition to the TTC’s existing Special Constables and security staff, augmenting the network of safety enhancements already in place across the system.
At Council, I shared remarks from Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw, who spoke powerfully about how this approach strengthens safety for everyone. He noted that treating mental health as a healthcare issue allows each partner to focus on what they do best—community crisis workers bring mental health expertise, while police officers continue to enforce the law and respond when situations become dangerous or have the potential to escalate. Chief Demkiw emphasized that the TCCS model doesn’t replace police presence—it complements it, ensuring that the right response meets the right need.
We’ve made significant investments in transit safety, and conditions on the TTC continue to improve, but there are still moments when riders encounter situations that make them uncomfortable or unsure how to respond. This new service ensures that anyone experiencing a crisis, or witnessing one, has immediate access to help. It’s free, confidential, and available 24/7.
By embedding TCCS into the transit system, we’re taking another important step to keep Toronto riders safe, supported, and connected to the care they need.
City Council has just taken an exciting step forward for Quayside – Phase 1, a major new community on our waterfront that will bring over 1,700 new rental homes, including 550 affordable units, with more than half designed for families.
This report gives the City the tools we need to finalize funding and partnership agreements so construction can begin. With a $975 million joint investment from all three levels of government, Quayside is a shining example of what’s possible when we work together, creating not just housing, but a complete community with parks, public spaces, and modern infrastructure.
By moving this work forward, we’re helping our affordable housing partners secure federal funding through CMHC and get shovels in the ground sooner. Quayside shows what collaboration can achieve, delivering the kind of affordable, purpose-built rental homes Toronto families need today and for generations to come.
Over the past year, I’ve heard from many residents concerned about the safety of e-bikes, e-scooters, and other “rideables” — for both riders and pedestrians. As Toronto adapts to these new ways of getting around, safety and shared responsibility remain top priorities.
This week, Council received an update on the City’s Micromobility Strategy, outlining progress on education and enforcement efforts to make our streets safer. Since Council adopted the strategy in 2024, Toronto Police Service (TPS) and Transportation Services have been working together on public education and targeted enforcement campaigns.
Through the “Safe Rides, Safe Streets” campaign in Fall 2024, officers engaged more than 250 micromobility users, issuing over 190 tickets and 60 warnings for unsafe behaviours such as riding on sidewalks, running red lights, and using e-mopeds in bike lanes.
This fall, the “Rules for Rideables” campaign built on that work with a citywide enforcement and education effort. Between August 25 and September 13, Toronto Police laid more than 3,500 tickets during an increased enforcement campaign focused on micromobility and back-to-school safety. Of those, 179 tickets were issued for micromobility offences under the Highway Traffic Act and City by-laws, including improper use of e-scooters, e-mopeds, and bicycles on sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes. The remaining 3,355 tickets addressed speeding, distracted driving, and other offences within 150 metres of schools.
This campaign was part of a joint effort between Toronto Police and City staff to increase public awareness of micromobility-related safety issues. The City’s educational efforts — including the “Rules for Rideables” campaign, online resources, and sidewalk decals — will continue through the season to reinforce safe and lawful riding.
It’s important to note that much of the regulation of these devices is not determined by the City of Toronto. Without a unified provincial or federal framework, municipalities across Ontario face challenges enforcing consistent safety rules and ensuring compatibility with existing transit and road infrastructure.
We continue to urge our provincial and federal partners to establish stronger, clearer regulations to keep riders and pedestrians safe.
If you’ve lived in Don Valley North for a while, you know the impact flooding can have on our homes, our streets, and our peace of mind. I’ve seen it firsthand, both when my own home flooded, and through the countless stories residents have shared with me over the years. Flooding is one of the most devastating and costly consequences of the changing climate, and our community has felt that reality all too often.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, I had to fight Council after the 2005 flood to ensure residents received no-fault basement flooding grants and to launch what has become the Citywide Basement Flooding Mitigation Program. Over the past 20 years, more than $100 million has been invested in flood mitigation in Pleasant View alone. It’s been a long and challenging process, but one that has protected countless homes from future storms.
At this Council meeting, we’ve taken another important step forward. By adopting this latest report, Council is giving City staff the green light to launch two new flood prevention initiatives on a pilot basis.
The first, a Rain Barrel Subsidy Program, will offer up to 80% off the cost of rain barrels and downspout diverters to help homeowners collect and reuse rainwater. The second, a Green Infrastructure Incentive Program, will provide rebates for training and professional landscape design that promote features like rain gardens, permeable driveways, and soakaway pits, all of which help reduce flooding and protect our waterways.
These pilot programs will help us test practical, cost-effective ways to bring flood prevention right to your doorstep. As the City continues to strengthen public infrastructure, we must also build resilience into private property, homes just like yours. Every household that participates helps make Toronto a safer, more climate-resilient city, one property at a time.
The Sheppard Avenue East reconstruction project was first announced in 2021, and since then I’ve been actively supporting multiple rounds of community consultations to shape its design with residents across Don Valley North. This major reconstruction will completely rebuild Sheppard Avenue East between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street, delivering road safety improvements, new cycle tracks, and upgraded public spaces. Projects like this only happen once every 75 to 100 years, so it’s essential that we plan and build a street that works for both current and future communities.
Since City Council approved the project in June 2023, the Province passed Bill 212 (Transportation for the Future Act, 2024), requiring Toronto to obtain Ministerial approval before installing bike lanes that reduce vehicle lanes. The Province has not yet released regulations, creating uncertainty about whether the cycle tracks could proceed as planned—or if infrastructure may need to be removed later.
In response, I brought forward a member motion that directs City staff to pause the tender and construction until we receive formal written approval from the Ministry of Transportation. The motion also asks staff to explore interim measures to improve traffic flow and congestion along Sheppard Avenue East while we await provincial guidance.
This motion is not about stopping the project—it’s about ensuring that when construction begins, it’s done in a comprehensive, expedited, and cost-effective manner - without risk of being dismantled, while continuing to make smarter, targeted improvements for residents in the meantime. I remain committed to Vision Zero, safer streets, and a Complete Street project that serves all Torontonians now and for generations to come.
As always, I welcome your thoughts.
If any of these topics affect you or your neighbourhood, please don’t hesitate to reach out—your feedback helps guide my work at Council.
