Mayor John Tory is warning drivers there will be another downtown towing blitz this fall.

In a wide-ranging State of the City address, Tory again took aim at inconsiderate drivers, saying police will be out this fall cracking down on people who block live lanes of traffic or park illegally during rush hour. Under the mayor’s previous towing blitzes, 29,000 vehicles were put on the hook and dragged out of downtown.

There’s more to come, Tory told a crowd at the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Wednesday.

“There’s nothing that gets the message through to people better than having their car towed,” he said. “It’s just the truth.”

Tory said he has asked Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders to send officers back out onto the streets in a concerted way to enforces the city rules. Previous blitzes have worked, but tend to fall back if drivers aren’t reminded of the rules, he said.

“What happens though, human nature being the way it is, as soon as the police officers in large numbers go away, people resume some of their old bad habits,” Tory said.

Tory’s speech focused on fighting congestion, transportation and transit. He also announced a series of initiatives under a new “Smart Streets” plan aimed at moving people around the city.

A new partnership with the operators of Waze, a community-based traffic and navigation app, will see the city provided with collision and lane blockage alerts and the city will push updates to Waze users through the app. This fall, the city will introduce a new plan to manage curbside spaces for buses, taxis and delivery trucks.

sjeffords@postmedia.com