You guys are AWESOME DRIVERS! (2014, income, taxes)
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Way back in this thread, you asked WHY the Police in Ontario ( not just Toronto ) are hard on driving offences ? The simple fact is that we don't want our streets and highways to become like where you live.
Many of the things that you would consider to be "normal " are illegal here in Ontario. Such as radar detectors( seize on sight and a $500 fine ) nitrous oxide intake systems ( illegal and the fine is at least $2,000 ) plus seizure of the equipment. Blue or red lights on the front of a vehicle, or under body lights of any colour are illegal . Riding in the back of a pick up truck, brings a fine for the driver and the passenger. Body surfing on the outside of a vehicle, same thing. Excessive exhaust noise, many Police officers have a issued decibel measurement device, that can record the noise, and be used in court as evidence. They also have tread depth measuring devices, to check the tire safety of a car, or commercial truck.
Seat belt use, distracted driving, kids not secured properly, bike riders who don't stop for stop signs, or red lights. All get their share of enforcement by both regular uniform patrol, and the traffic enforcement units .
Every uniform patrol officer, including those who are riding on pedal bike patrol, are expected to bring in at least 4 traffic offence notices per 10 hour shift. Most of them can get that done in the first hour of the shift, and still do their sector patrol, respond to radio calls and do traffic observations at a number of intersections or stop signs, as well. Toronto has a separate civilian parking control unit, that does 90 percent of the parking tickets, so the uniform officers can concentrate on moving violations, and respond to calls for help.
The Ontario Provincial Police patrol the highways, out side of the cities, and they also have detachments in smaller towns and villages. In Northern Ontario, a OPP station may be staffed with less than 10 officers, and some of them are only accessible by air, or water. Ontario is so big that it extends all most to the arctic circle. About equal to the size of Texas in terms of square area. On the Trans Canada highway, up north in Ontario, you can drive for hundreds of kms, between towns, seeing a lot of trees and rocks and not much else.
To drive from the eastern Ontario boundary with Quebec, across Ontario to get to the Province of Manitoba, will take about 24 hours of continual driving at 60 mph.
Sounds about right GTA and Ontario highways do seem to be in much better shape than their U.S. counterparts. When driving on the 400-series highways I often notice frequent maintenance activities almost year round - repainting lanes, repaving large segments of the highway. The only highway segment that sees deteriorating conditions is the Gardiner Express within the Toronto city proper. Most of the other provincial 400 highways seem to be in fine shape offering a very smooth driving experience.
As for municipal roads in Toronto - it's a mixed experience. Some sections of major streets like Bloor and Lakeshore Bvld are pretty well-maintained, while many other streets are just equally as bad if not worse as those in Boston and other NE cities. In fact, I think many streets in downtown Toronto are all in desperate need of repair, with major streets like Jarvis, parts of Bay, Bloor filled with pot holes and uneven surfaces. This may be due to routine budget shortages in municipal infrastructure, and not a Toronto-specific problem.
Agreed all around. People in North East cities would kill for a highway system similar to the GTA's.
Are developers required to contribute to a municipal road fund when they build in Toronto? And if so, how much? (I figure I would ask you because you seem versed on these things)
I know that in Boston the reason why you may be seeing improved city roads is because the developers contribute very generously to those funds and take on alot of the infrastructure work themselves. There is no surprise that the improvements in the city roads have coincided with the building boom. The city/state government doesnt deserve much credit for these improvements.
Uhuh.. I'll drop it but it was just uncalled for the End of Story bit in relation to the context of my posts - My posts had nothing to do with feeling privileged or dismissing black experience - it was simply a 'light' discussion as I said before - that most people at some point in their lives smoke weed and a lot of people do it. Involving incarceration rates, racial profiling etc wasn't something I wanted to get into at all but yeah - plenty still do it regardless including blacks - yes lots of blacks smoke weed in Toronto along with the rest of us (I don't, I hate it) but laws aside people are doing it..
I did not mean it in any offensive way. If I offended you, I apologize, it was not my intent. Yes, please lets drop it.
I think the major issue in a lot of these east coast cities like Boston, NY/NJ, Philly, etc.. Is that the road conditions are really shi*y compared to Toronto. Those places were obviously never really designed for cars and that is where a lot of the frustration driving in them stems from. The city in Canada that can relate the most is Montreal. Quebec drivers have a pretty bad reputation similar to the Northeast cities in the U.S. And I think a lot of that stems from the roads themselves.
As I said earlier I have completely lost my nerve or desire for highway driving. If I had to commute into boston from some suburb I most likely would go insane. Toronto highway driving is more than enough for me and I only do it because I am forced to when I am visiting.
I was going to comment on Quebec drivers, actually! I did notice that they seem to be feisty. I only saw three or so but they were all pissed off. I just assumed it was a coincidence considering the fact that I only saw three Quebec plates.
And yeah, you're not kidding. TORONTO ROADS ARE BEAUTIFUL. I've never been in a situation where I don't have to worry about potholes while driving. Philadelphia's roads are in the best shape out of what I've seen in the USA but that's only because Philadelphia has a warmer climate so the roads don't suffer through huge temperature shifts. In fact, it's sometimes 15 c in November or early March.
My car has 20 in rims and a manual transmission so I have to pay attention to everything from potholes to slowing traffic to sharp curves. You won't believe some of the potholes here. 130 km/hr while staying only 2 meters away from the car in front gives you absolutely zero time to react to the potholes. If you try to go slow and pay attention to holes, you end up just getting cut off anyway. Some of them are deep. 3-4 inches! When you run over one, you'll get what I mean. It sounds like something on your car cracked and you feel compelled to apologize to your wheels. Plus, our constuction zones particularly in NJ have really narrow lanes but people still insist on going at least 130... Sometimes I go up to 145 with a concrete barrier on one side and an SUV on the other side... and I'm just following the flow of traffic.
Toronto driving is pretty "point and shoot"... You just pay attention to other cars without worrying about holes in the road or sharp curves on the highway.
Agreed all around. People in North East cities would kill for a highway system similar to the GTA's.
Are developers required to contribute to a municipal road fund when they build in Toronto? And if so, how much? (I figure I would ask you because you seem versed on these things)
I know that in Boston the reason why you may be seeing improved city roads is because the developers contribute very generously to those funds and take on alot of the infrastructure work themselves. There is no surprise that the improvements in the city roads have coincided with the building boom. The city/state government doesnt deserve much credit for these improvements.
I'm not well-versed in how much developers contribute, but I am quite sure they must contribute a set amount to the city government (aside from the land purchase and taxes) to fund public infrastructure and investment in the surrounding neighborhood (e.g. new library, park, hospital, etc.). They also need to pay a usage fee for the days and hours that they occupy public space for construction work. In fact, the city is planning on raising that infrastructure usage fee now that there's been so much disruption to local traffic due to constant construction work by private developers.
As for roads in Boston/Cambridge, it can be a hit and miss. For example, the block where I used to live in Cambridge is very well-maintained and paved, while the streets surrounding our block are covered with potholes year round. I think it's great (and absolutely necessary) that developers are contributing their fair share to municipal infrastructure. I just don't think it's enough. Most NE cities are woefully under-funded with regards to our deteriorating infrastructure, and it will only worsen as the years pass. I don't see any other remedy than to significantly raise property taxes and impose other forms of fees and taxation on developers, as well as charging higher tolls for urban traffic so that it will become a lot more expensive to drive.
Way back in this thread, you asked WHY the Police in Ontario ( not just Toronto ) are hard on driving offences ? The simple fact is that we don't want our streets and highways to become like where you live.
Many of the things that you would consider to be "normal " are illegal here in Ontario. Such as radar detectors( seize on sight and a $500 fine ) nitrous oxide intake systems ( illegal and the fine is at least $2,000 ) plus seizure of the equipment. Blue or red lights on the front of a vehicle, or under body lights of any colour are illegal . Riding in the back of a pick up truck, brings a fine for the driver and the passenger. Body surfing on the outside of a vehicle, same thing. Excessive exhaust noise, many Police officers have a issued decibel measurement device, that can record the noise, and be used in court as evidence. They also have tread depth measuring devices, to check the tire safety of a car, or commercial truck.
Jim B.
What a shame! American cities have a pretty sizable car culture scene, particularly with "ricers". There are people with huge "fart can" exhausts that somehow make a 4 cylinder Civic sound like an F1 car, neon lights, and other weird things like pink rims and some sports cars running on bald race-track tires in the summer!
Of course, it's not common, but it's still prevalent
I actually heard that LA's car culture is huge but I've never been there. Apparently HUNDREDS of "ricers" drag race, drift, and do other forms of street racing on the streets in the middle of the night. It draws a huge crowd of watchers. But that's just what I heard, not something I experienced.
And here's an example of the glorious "ricer".. A trademark name for the old Japanese cars with huge, obnoxiously loud exhausts that particularly enjoy racing around my part of Queens, NYC at 3 AM on Wednesdays
What a shame! American cities have a pretty sizable car culture scene, particularly with "ricers". There are people with huge "fart can" exhausts that somehow make a 4 cylinder Civic sound like an F1 car, neon lights, and other weird things like pink rims and some sports cars running on bald race-track tires in the summer!
Of course, it's not common, but it's still prevalent
I actually heard that LA's car culture is huge but I've never been there. Apparently HUNDREDS of "ricers" drag race, drift, and do other forms of street racing on the streets in the middle of the night. It draws a huge crowd of watchers. But that's just what I heard, not something I experienced.
And here's an example of the glorious "ricer".. A trademark name for the old Japanese cars with huge, obnoxiously loud exhausts that particularly enjoy racing around my part of Queens, NYC at 3 AM on Wednesdays
While it may be heavily policed the street racing car culture exists in the GTA. Not on the level of an LA but it was very prevalent when I was most recently living in TO and from what I hear a scene still exists.
Myself, a few friends and family of mine (Including a cousin who owns a shop East of Toronto) used to race in Markham on Saturday nights near an industrial road where the post office loading facility was/is located (I am not dry snitching because this was closed down and the road blocked off in the evenings because of racing eventually) The main car we ran was a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Turbo and all those "souped up" bulls*it ricers couldn't keep up at all. Nothing against Japanese cars but that American power (Assembled in Oshawa I might add) cant be beat. We ran at some pretty stupid speeds and easily could have killed ourselves, but you're only young and stupid once right?
Anyways, that culture was heavy back in those days, especially with the Markham/Richmond Hill folks.
While it may be heavily policed the street racing car culture exists in the GTA. Not on the level of an LA but it was very prevalent when I was most recently living in TO and from what I hear a scene still exists.
Myself, a few friends and family of mine (Including a cousin who owns a shop East of Toronto) used to race in Markham on Saturday nights near an industrial road where the post office loading facility was/is located (I am not dry snitching because this was closed down and the road blocked off in the evenings because of racing eventually) The main car we ran was a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Turbo and all those "souped up" bulls*it ricers couldn't keep up at all. Nothing against Japanese cars but that American power (Assembled in Oshawa I might add) cant be beat. We ran at some pretty stupid speeds and easily could have killed ourselves, but you're only young and stupid once right?
Anyways, that culture was heavy back in those days, especially with the Markham/Richmond Hill folks.
Insane! I've always loved the idea of underground street racing like that. We don't have it much out in NY. It's mostly just 7 or 8 Hondas revving their engines and doing drag races at stoplights.
What a shame! American cities have a pretty sizable car culture scene, particularly with "ricers". There are people with huge "fart can" exhausts that somehow make a 4 cylinder Civic sound like an F1 car, neon lights, and other weird things like pink rims and some sports cars running on bald race-track tires in the summer!
Of course, it's not common, but it's still prevalent
I actually heard that LA's car culture is huge but I've never been there. Apparently HUNDREDS of "ricers" drag race, drift, and do other forms of street racing on the streets in the middle of the night. It draws a huge crowd of watchers. But that's just what I heard, not something I experienced.
And here's an example of the glorious "ricer".. A trademark name for the old Japanese cars with huge, obnoxiously loud exhausts that particularly enjoy racing around my part of Queens, NYC at 3 AM on Wednesdays
Good thing that Accord has a spoiler on it. Gota keep that rear-end on the ground. lol
Agreed all around. People in North East cities would kill for a highway system similar to the GTA's.
Are developers required to contribute to a municipal road fund when they build in Toronto? And if so, how much? (I figure I would ask you because you seem versed on these things)
I know that in Boston the reason why you may be seeing improved city roads is because the developers contribute very generously to those funds and take on alot of the infrastructure work themselves. There is no surprise that the improvements in the city roads have coincided with the building boom. The city/state government doesnt deserve much credit for these improvements.
Can you guys funnel some money to New Jersey/NY's road funds?
Never mind, we can't even afford to shut down half a lane here at midnight without causing a 20 mile traffic jam
(exaggeration, of course.. but you get the idea)
But please, can someone fix our potholes? Some of them are with us through all 4 seasons. thanks
Last edited by crna101; 08-26-2015 at 08:06 PM..
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GTA and Ontario highways do seem to be in much better shape than their U.S. counterparts. When driving on the 400-series highways I often notice frequent maintenance activities almost year round - repainting lanes, repaving large segments of the highway. The only highway segment that sees deteriorating conditions is the Gardiner Express within the Toronto city proper. Most of the other provincial 400 highways seem to be in fine shape offering a very smooth driving experience. 
