Item - 2024.EC11.3

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council continue to opt-in to the pilot of large quadricycles under O.Reg. 411/22: Pilot Project - Large Quadricycles made under the Highway Traffic Act, which is scheduled to end in 2032;

2. City Council give authority to the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards or his or her designate, to issue any number of licences, renewable on an annual basis, for pedicabs that are large quadricycles, and any number of licences for any single operating company.

3. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing, as follows:

a. by adding to the end of Section 545-27 the following sentence, "Where a pedicab is a large quadricycle, the number of passengers shall not exceed the number of passenger seats available."

b. by adding to the beginning of Section 545-27A, "Except where a pedicab is a large quadricycle," before "No owner or driver shall permit more than two persons to be passengers in a pedicab at any time without the consent of the Executive Director or his or her designate."

c. to delete Section 545-29.3, which requires the approval of route maps for large quadricycles.

d. to authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services, or their designate to create and amend a list of roadways on which large quadricycles are prohibited from operating, based on the General Manager's opinion of whether the operation of large quadricycles might cause or contribute to traffic management problems and in consultation with City Councillors in whose wards the vehicles are operated, and to post such list publicly.

e. to require the operators of large quadricycles to submit proposed route maps as part of applying for a licence or its renewal and at least 10 business days prior to modifying or adding a route, to the General Manager, Transportation Services, or their designate, for verification that the route complies with the list of prohibited roadways for large quadricycles and that, in the opinion of the General Manager, the proposed routes will not cause or contribute to potential traffic management problems, and must notify Municipal Licensing and Standards no less than five business days upon verification of any changes or additions to their operating routes.

f. the General Manager, Transportation Services shall not verify proposed routes for large quadricycles that do not comply with the following restrictions:

1. Any road with a designated speed limit greater than 40km/h per Chapter 950 Schedule XXXV;

2. No more than one consecutive block of travel on Yonge Street;

3. No more than one consecutive block of travel on Bloor Street or Danforth Avenue;

4. No lefthand turns at unsignalized intersections where at least one of the roads is an arterial road; and

5. No straight-through movements at unsignalized intersections where the road that the large quadricycle is crossing is an arterial road.

g. to authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services, or their designate, to immediately revoke verification of an existing route on the basis of a change in the list of prohibited roadways for large quadricycles, traffic management conditions, or repeated by-law infractions including noise.

h. by adding to the beginning of Section 545-33 the following, "Except where a pedicab is a large quadricycle," before "No owner and no driver shall calculate fares on any basis other than time, and the number of passengers shall not be used in any way to calculate any rates, fares or payments."

4. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking by adding a new section 950-204A, which states, "No person shall operate a large quadricycle or similar vehicle on a roadway unless operating licensed as a pedicab owner or driver under Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 545, Licensing."

5. City Council amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking by adding a new section 950-204B, which states, "No person shall operate, park, store or leave a large quadricycle on a sidewalk under any conditions."

6. City Council directs the General Manager, Transportation Services to report back at the end of the Provincial Pilot Project - Large Quadricycles (in 2032) or sooner as requested, in collaboration with Municipal Licensing and Standards, Economic Development and Culture and other divisions, as appropriate, to the appropriate Committee(s) about the impacts of large quadricycles on city streets and any recommended by-law changes, based on consultation with relevant stakeholders, including emergency services, the Toronto Transit Commission, business improvement associations, and the public, and in concurrence with any changes to related Provincial regulations as they emerge.

7. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bills to give effect to City Council's decision and City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make any necessary clarifications, refinements, minor modifications, technical amendments, or by-law amendments as may be identified by the City Solicitor, Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, or General Manager, Transportation Services, in order to give effect to the adopted recommendations.

In 2022, City Council adopted recommendations to opt-in to a Province of Ontario pilot project under the Highway Traffic Act, which allowed the operation of large quadricycles in Toronto under specific conditions. Among the conditions approved by City Council were the requirements that large quadricycle operators must have a valid pedicab licence, and that all routes must be approved by the General Manager, Transportation Services prior to commencing operations. Since 2022, a single company has operated a tour service using large quadricycles on a seasonal basis (May to October). The two operating seasons in 2022 and 2023 have provided valuable learning opportunities for both City staff and large quadricycle operators. This report serves as an update on the Large Quadricycle Pilot Project and provides a summary of feedback from internal and external stakeholders as well as local residents.

It is recommended that the City continue to opt-in to the Province of Ontario's Large Quadricycle Pilot Project. This recommendation is based on findings that conclude large quadricycles did not have identifiable impacts on traffic congestion, transit operations, or public safety in the first two years of the pilot. Input received from local businesses confirms that large quadricycle tours present a small but visible economic development opportunity and support tourism. Further, results from a public survey found that the majority of Toronto resident respondents (77 percent) support the continued use of large quadricycles in Toronto.

Many of the conditions under which large quadricycles were permitted to operate were key to the success of this pilot project in 2022-2023. Therefore, this report recommends that the same roadway restrictions continue to apply to large quadricycles, in addition to the requirement that operators submit proposed routes for approval prior to commencing operations. In addition to these requirements, staff recommend that the General Manager, Transportation Services, or their designate, be granted the authority to establish new route approval conditions for large quadricycles.

Finally, this report recommends that the limit on the number of licences that may be issued to large quadricycles be lifted but that the City prohibit at all times the use of large quadricycles that are not licensed as pedicabs.