The city is pushing ahead with plans to implement photo radar systems to catch and fine drivers who speed near schools.

A report going to the public works committee next week recommends council designate as “community safety zones” the areas around entrances to all elementary schools in the city, a bylaw change that would double the fines for speeding and open the door for the city to implement automatic enforcement measures like photo radar in the designated areas.

Councillor Jaye Robinson, who chairs the public works committee, called the move toward automatic enforcement near schools “a huge step forward” a vital part of the city’s and is in charge of the city’s $90-million road safety plan.

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“We want kids to feel like they can get to and from school safely,” she said.

There is a catch, however. The Safer School Zones Act adopted by the provincial government last year allows cities to use measures like photo radar within designated areas. But the province has yet to declare the applicable sections of the act in effect.

“Regulations are required and are being developed in consultation with Ontario municipalities,” said city spokesperson Cheryl San Juan. She gave no time frame for when the sections of the act could be enacted.

But Councillor Robinson said she’s “very confident” the city will be able to conduct a pilot of automatic enforcement later this year, with full implementation beginning in 2019.

Some critics of photo radar describe it as police overreach or a cash grab by the city, but Robinson dismissed those arguments.

“I’m not sure why anybody would criticize something that’s going to provide safer passage for children getting to and from schools,” she said.

“Nobody wants to see any fatalities or even injuries in these areas.”

The recent deaths of two young children has refocused attention on the risks caused by the high volume of traffic that swells near schools each day as parents drop off or pick up their kids.

On Feb. 27, 11-year-old Duncan Xu was killed when he was struck by a driver while walking home from Kennedy Public School in Scarborough. It’s not clear whether speed was a factor in the collision.

One month earlier, 5-year-old Camila Torcato died after an SUV whose driver had left the vehicle rolled and pinned her against another car as she left St. Raphael Catholic School in North York with her father.

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So far this year, 17 pedestrians have died in Toronto, according to statistics compiled by the Star. The city’s road safety plan, dubbed “Vision Zero,” has set a target of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries.

Katie Piccininni said she would welcome photo radar near St. Clement Catholic School, where her 9-year-old son attends.

The Etobicoke school fronts onto Bloor St. W., a busy four-lane thoroughfare, where Piccininni said drivers constantly exceed the speed limit.

“We see people blow through the red lights, even with a crossing guard,” she said.

Piccininni believes drivers would obey the rules if they knew photo radar would automatically fine them for speeding.

“People need to slow down. If it means that they’re going to have big tickets, and pay through the nose for safety infractions, and maybe learn a lesson that way, that would be a much better way than a child losing their life,” she said.

According to San Juan, if the report is approved by council later this month and the province enables photo radar, the city will “undertake a data driven approach” to determine where and when to install automatic speed enforcement.

The technology could be deployed permanently at some schools, or on mobile units that could be rotated between different institutions.

According to a 2016 city report, a University of Alberta study determined that the introduction of photo radar in Edmonton resulted in a 32.1 per cent reduction in collisions causing death or serious injury.

In addition to the community safety zones designation, the report says the city is also preparing to hire engineering consultants to streets around schools for physical safety improvements that could include flashing beacons, “Watch Your Speed” signs, zebra markings, crosswalks, in-road warning signs, speed humps, and turn prohibitions.