Ontario is at a turning point in how we design, operate, and think about our roads. Bill 56, Build a More Competitive Economy Act, is proposing to reduce administrative burden by limiting Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE).
OSPE has called on the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to adopt an engineering-first approach to transportation safety. An engineering-first approach prevents collisions through safe road design rather than penalizing unsafe driving with tools like ASE.
OSPE submitted a formal letter to the Honourable Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation, outlining how Ontario can take a leadership role in North America by embedding Safe System principles into every level of road design and policy. Below is a summary of OSPE’s key messages and recommendations.
Why Ontario Must Modernize Its Street Design Philosophy
Despite strong transportation performance compared to other jurisdictions, Ontario continues to face unacceptable levels of collision and injury. According to the Ministry of Transportation, in 2023 alone 616 Ontarians were killed in traffic collisions, and 36,706 Ontarians were injured.
These numbers highlight the danger concentrated where people live, walk, cycle, and drive. Adopting an engineering-first approach to Ontario road design is essential to protect Ontarians.
The Problem: A Reactive System Built on Warrants and Thresholds
Ontario’s transportation framework has long relied on what engineers call warrant-based design. Under this system, safety upgrades like pedestrian crossings, signals, or traffic calming are only added after certain thresholds are met, such as:
- High collision counts
- High traffic volumes
- Measurable injury patterns
This means interventions often come after harm has already occurred.
This reactive approach also:
- Prioritizes vehicle throughput over human safety
- Leaves municipalities with uneven implementation capacity
- Increases long-term healthcare and emergency response costs
- Erodes public trust as communities demand safer streets
The Engineering-First Solution: A Safe System Approach
A modern Safe System framework flips this paradigm. Instead of reacting to proven harm, Safe System design:
- Assumes human error
- Uses geometry and speed design to minimize crash severity
- Creates streets where safe behaviour is the natural default
- Ensures survivability is built into the physical environment
This approach is grounded in physics and human factors, not enforcement. And it works. Cities like Hoboken (NJ) and Oslo (Norway) have not had a road death in years. These gains were achieved primarily through design, not additional enforcement.
By working with its engineers, Ontario can become a global leader by designing safe, effective roads in North America.
OSPE’s Four Key Recommendations to the Ministry of Transportation
1. Establish a Safe System Ontario Traffic Manual Overhaul Committee
OSPE recommends a comprehensive review of all Ontario Traffic Manuals, led by:
- 50% Canadian experts
- 50% international Safe System leaders
- Representation from municipalities, academia, private engineering firms, and emergency services
The committee would issue a final report and identify legislative changes needed to implement the new design standards.
2. Replace Warrant-Based Criteria with Risk-Based Design
Instead of waiting for collisions to justify safety improvements, OSPE recommends:
- Context-driven, proactive criteria
- Prioritizing community and school zones
- Designing for human-body tolerance and actual operating speeds
This ensures safety before tragedy occurs.
3. Integrate Dynamic and Geometric Speed Management
Safer road design means embedding features such as:
- Self-enforcing geometry
- Protected intersections
- Context-appropriate speeds
- Modern traffic-calming and separation designs
4. Provide Engineers with Modern Tools, Training, and Data
Ontario’s engineers need updated:
- Modelling tools
- Risk-prediction frameworks
- Training in Safe System design
- Access to standardized datasets and guidance
This empowers the profession to implement consistent, evidence-based solutions provincewide.
OSPE Remains Ready to Support the Province
OSPE’s submission calls on Ontario to align itself with the world’s most effective road safety models. The engineering profession stands ready to support this transition through technical expertise, research, training, and policy collaboration.
We thank Minister Sarkaria and the Ministry of Transportation for their leadership and welcome continued discussion on advancing Safe System design across Ontario.
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