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The City of Vaughan Council voted yesterday to end its Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program effectively immediately, despite arguments that research and evidence-based recommendations support such interventions.
Mayor Steven Del Duca presented the motion proposing its termination, and Council passed it during a Special Council meeting on Tuesday. According to the City of Vaughan news release, they will instead “focus efforts on advancing other traffic-calming measures.”
“[This decision is] quite significant in the sense that it’s also playing into some of the political backlash around people thinking that this is just revenue generating exercise without understanding the full implications in terms of speed reduction and safety,” said Linda Rothman, Associate Professor in the School of Occupational and Public Health in the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. “And that’s the part that’s hard to swallow.”
Are suggested alternatives more effective than ASE?
The ASE system uses both “a camera and speed measurement device to enforce speed limits,” according to the York Region Municipality website. Some cameras are still in place in select locations in York Region to capture drivers exceeding permitted behaviour. The City of Vaughan states in their FAQ section of its website that if drivers receive “a penalty order from York Region for speeding on regional roads in Vaughan, it is valid.”
“I’m hoping [Vaughan] is just an isolated incident,” said Rothman. “I suspect it may not be, but I’m hoping it’s not going to influence what other municipalities are thinking… considering, again, that the majority of people out there are actually in support of the program.”
Earlier in July, the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) surveyed Ontario drivers, finding that “76 per cent of Ontarians believe that cameras deter speeding altogether.” Meanwhile, 73 per cent slow down when nearing an ASE camera, according to the survey, which polled 1,500 Canadians over the age of 18 in March 2025.
Although Vaughan’s news release lists several other road safety programs, Rothman said that “traffic-calming alternatives” are “not evidence-based.”
“So I did notice that [Premier] Ford has been stating that we should be using lots of bright signs and lines and paintings on the road to slow traffic down,” she said. “Lines and signs don’t work. You actually need either some physical interventions to slow the traffic down,” which, according to her, could be either speed humps or road design configuration.
“A lot of our roadways are built like little mini highways. It’s hard to slow down when there’s a straight way [ahead] with nothing in front of you,” Rothman said. “Ideally, what you want to see is the road design changed and automated speed enforcement working together to slow traffic down. The lines and signs themselves do not work.”
Are ASE systems a ‘financial burden’ for residents?
Mayor Del Duca said that the decision earlier this summer to pause the ASE program came “so staff could evaluate if we could strike the right balance between protecting our most vulnerable road users and ensuring no unfair financial burden is placed on residents at a time of financial uncertainty.” Premier Doug Ford has also often referred to the ASE system as a “tax grab” or “revenue tool.”
However, experts like Rothman disagree with that argument, saying ASE is neither a financial burden nor a tax.
“This is not something that everybody has to pay [for]. This is only paid if you’re breaking the speed limit. So all people have to do to avoid this financial burden is slow down. This is not a difficult thing to do. Just slow down and you won’t be fined.”
On Sept. 10, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria emphasizing its “important evidence-based role that automated speed enforcement (ASE) plays in improving road safety,” including in its email response to OTR that it is cost effective since it “allows police officers to focus on other high-impact activities and net ASE revenues are reinvested in community safety improvements.”
The AMO also said, “Municipalities understand the need to use these tools thoughtfully and can be counted on to do so.”
Mariela Torroba Hennigen is a second-year Masters of Journalism student and a reporter for On The Record, fall 2025.
