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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Khasir Hean – 226 927-2677 – khasir.hean@gmail.com
September 25, 2025 (Toronto, ON) – Technologists for Democracy is a grassroots, volunteer-run advocacy organization. We are disappointed by Premier Ford’s decision to ban automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras. The Hospital for Sick Children and Toronto Metropolitan University have found that ASE cameras in Toronto reduce the proportion of people speeding by 45%, and reduced motor vehicle speeds by 7km/h overall.1
Reducing motor vehicle speeds is proven to improve safety. When the City of Toronto reduced speed limits from 40km/h to 30km/h, collisions decreased by 28%, and major and minor injuries decreased by 67%.2 Additionally, 73% of Ontarians support ASE cameras in targeted zones.3
These facts point to the importance and popular support for enforcing speed limits and reducing motor vehicle speeds. We call on the Province of Ontario to commit to public safety by ensuring that drivers obey posted speed limits through ASE cameras to reduce collisions and injuries.
Instead of spending taxpayer dollars on the removal of existing ASE camera infrastructure, we call on Premier Ford to cancel the upcoming ban on ASE cameras. The Province has not provided details of the provincial fund for spending taxpayer dollars on the removal of ASE camera infrastructure, nor on replacing ACE cameras with safe street infrastructure such as roundabouts or bike lanes. Pedestrian and bike-friendly infrastructure reduce incidences of collisions and speeding in areas where these interventions are applied.
Separately, there are a number of privacy risks related to ASE cameras. We must ensure that privacy safeguards are built into ASE systems and policies so that data sharing and security best practices are followed, to maintain public trust. For instance, audio, visual and related data should be utilized only for speed monitoring, and not for other law enforcement purposes such as surveillance. Similarly, license plate data collection and management should be constrained to speed monitoring and enforcement only, and should not be combined with other datasets for a different purpose. ASE cameras should not become multipurpose tools used for purposes other than for monitoring speed.
We believe that a significant portion of the opposition to ASE cameras is caused by sub-par implementation. We also call on municipalities to improve implementation by focusing on the driver experience – for example, reducing the delay between incidence of speeding and ticket issuance, putting up signage and publishing open data on ASE camera locations, or providing clear feedback to drivers where speeding occurred. The public has a right to know where ASE cameras are, following transparency and open government principles.
We at Technologists for Democracy believe that ASE cameras are an effective technology for maintaining public safety. In summary:
- We call on the Province to take a stand for public safety by allowing for the implementation of ASE cameras.
- We request that the data policies of ASE systems be designed with safeguards to use personal data minimally and protect public privacy.
- We call on municipalities to improve ASE systems to focus on the driver experience and improve trust.
- The City of Toronto Automated Speed Enforcement Program Evaluation. March 28, 2023. https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/96cc-Automated-Speed-Enforcement-Program-Evaluation.pdf ↩︎
- Effect of reducing the posted speed limit to 30 km per hour on pedestrian motor vehicle collisions in Toronto, Canada – a quasi experimental, pre-post study. Fridman et al. February 10, 2020. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-8139-5 ↩︎
- CAA survey suggests 73% of Ontarians support speed cameras in targeted zones, even as cams cut down. Gabriela Silva Ponte. July 23, 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/survey-finds-ontarianpurposes,s-support-speed-cameras-1.7592325 ↩︎
