More than 30,000 speeding tickets issued to drivers in Mississauga through camera program
Published January 12, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Nearly 18 months into its speed enforcement camera program targeting lead-footed drivers in school and community safety zones, the City of Mississauga has dished out more than 30,000 tickets to offenders.
The most-recent numbers from the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) camera program show that between the start of the initiative in July 2021 and Oct. 31, 2022, 28,466 tickets have been mailed out to speeding motorists in Mississauga or the registered owner of the offending vehicle.
That’s an average of about 1,779 tickets per month, or nearly 60 per day, suggesting that the number of tickets doled out as of January 2023, while not yet tabulated by the City, is well over 30,000.
At an average of $126 per ticket, the City has issued more than $3.59 million in fines through the ASE program as of last October.
However, due to various issues related to the processing of tickets, the City has collected only $1.2 million, or 33.5 per cent, of that money.
Colin Patterson, Mississauga’s manager of traffic services and road safety, said in an email to insauga.com that the City is trying to address that shortfall this year by doing a better job of collecting fine money in timely fashion.
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“There is a 2023 budget request related to Automated Speed Enforcement. It is to transition from Provincial Offences Act administration to Administrative Penalty System administration to provide a scalable and more efficient dispute resolution process,” he said. “This allows matters to be resolved in a timelier manner and create capacity within the provincial courts to address more serious matters.”
Shari Lichterman, Mississauga’s commissioner of corporate services and chief financial officer, said during an online budget information session with media earlier this week that staff is looking to improve fine collection efforts as the ASE program expands in 2023.
She noted there have been issues processing all the tickets in timely fashion due to high volume, but “we will shift how tickets are processed” in efforts to collect more fine payments.
City staff said earlier that the relatively small amount in fines collected is attributable to the payment options/responses offered to offending vehicle owners. Once receiving notice of the fine, car owners have the right to ask for a trial or early resolution meeting, or they can pay the ticket by mail, online or over the phone.
The various payment options, noted staff, take time and subsequently impact when the City receives the money.
Additionally, Provincial Court matters, including the paying of tickets, were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ASE program was approved as part of the City’s 2020 budget and is part of Mississauga’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to reduce road causalities to zero.
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