Item - 2024.IE13.3

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council give authority to allow the Billy Bishop Airport Shuttle Bus to utilize the King Street Transit Priority Corridor.

2. City Council approve the amendments to City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, associated with the above Recommendation generally as outlined in Attachment 1 to the report (April 18, 2024) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to create a King Street working group, to report on progress by the fourth quarter of 2024, in consultation with the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and with community and interested parties, such as TTC Riders, Cycle Toronto, and the local Business Improvement Areas, in developing a unified streetscape plan that responds to and enhances King Street's distinct character.

4. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to report back in the fourth quarter of 2024 to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on:

a. The effects the traffic signal modifications have made on traffic flow along King Street;

b. Updated information on proposed public realm improvements, including, but not limited to, mid-block curb extensions, transit bump outs, widened sidewalks, and public realm spaces;

c. An update on the status of the Automated Enforcement strategy; and

d. The status of the creation of the King Street working group.

King Street is a significant east-west corridor in the Downtown, serving the largest concentration of jobs in the entire country. King Street is also a key destination for culture, heritage, entertainment, and retail uses, along with significant residential intensification along the King Street Transit Priority Corridor and in the downtown more generally.

The 504 King streetcar is the busiest surface transit route in the city and services the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, between Bathurst Street and Jarvis Street. The Transit Priority Corridor aims to provide customers with improved transit reliability, speed, and capacity by giving priority to streetcars over private vehicles. It also provides customers with a critical transit connection, particularly with significant construction on parallel corridors in the downtown such as Queen Street, with the Ontario Line construction currently underway.

As requested by City Council through Member Motion 12.1 Automated Traffic Enforcement on King Street in November 2023, this report provides an update on a number of matters that Transportation Services, in partnership with the Toronto Transit Commission and ongoing support from Toronto Police Service, has been advancing to improve the reliability of the Transit Priority Corridor in the near term, as well as an update on the feasibility of implementing automated traffic enforcement along the Transit Priority Corridor.

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council give authority to allow the Billy Bishop Airport Shuttle Bus to utilize the King Street Transit Priority Corridor.

2. City Council approve the amendments to City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, associated with the above Recommendation generally as outlined in Attachment 1 to the report (April 18, 2024) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to create a King Street working group, to report on progress by the fourth quarter of 2024, in consultation with the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and with community and interested parties, such as TTC Riders, Cycle Toronto, and the local Business Improvement Areas, in developing a unified streetscape plan that responds to and enhances King Street's distinct character.

4. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to report back in the fourth quarter of 2024 to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on:

a. The effects the traffic signal modifications have made on traffic flow along King Street;

b. Updated information on proposed public realm improvements, including, but not limited to, mid-block curb extensions, transit bump outs, widened sidewalks, and public realm spaces;

c. An update on the status of the Automated Enforcement strategy; and

d. The status of the creation of the King Street working group.

King Street is a significant east-west corridor in the Downtown, serving the largest concentration of jobs in the entire country. King Street is also a key destination for culture, heritage, entertainment, and retail uses, along with significant residential intensification along the King Street Transit Priority Corridor and in the downtown more generally.

The 504 King streetcar is the busiest surface transit route in the city and services the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, between Bathurst Street and Jarvis Street. The Transit Priority Corridor aims to provide customers with improved transit reliability, speed, and capacity by giving priority to streetcars over private vehicles. It also provides customers with a critical transit connection, particularly with significant construction on parallel corridors in the downtown such as Queen Street, with the Ontario Line construction currently underway.

As requested by City Council through Member Motion 12.1 Automated Traffic Enforcement on King Street in November 2023, this report provides an update on a number of matters that Transportation Services, in partnership with the Toronto Transit Commission and ongoing support from Toronto Police Service, has been advancing to improve the reliability of the Transit Priority Corridor in the near term, as well as an update on the feasibility of implementing automated traffic enforcement along the Transit Priority Corridor.