Item - 2016.PW10.8

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee:

1.  Requested the General Manager, Transportation Services to include, as part of the upcoming Toronto Road Safety Strategic Plan, a Seniors Strategy that identifies specific counter measures aimed at improving the safety of older residents on local and arterial roads and reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries.

In June 2015, City Council approved my motion asking city staff to develop a comprehensive Road Safety Strategic Plan with the goal of reducing the number of traffic-related deaths and serious injuries on Toronto's roads.

Transportation Services staff have been hard at work analyzing the data and meeting with key stakeholders. A draft of the Road Safety Strategic Plan is expected to come to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in spring 2016.

A key element of the plan involves identifying our most vulnerable road users. Adults over the age of 55 encompass 26 percent of our city's population, but in 2015 made up more than 70 percent of pedestrian fatalities.

It's key that a targeted approach is needed to ensure the safety of older residents on our streets, especially in view of our aging population. Over the past four decades, the number of older adults living in Toronto has increased by over 200,000.

With that in mind, I'm requesting that staff develop a Seniors Strategy as part of the Road Safety Strategic Plan that builds on the city's existing initiatives related to seniors as well as current research and best practices in other jurisdictions.

Developing a strategy to thoughtfully and tactically improve seniors' safety on our roads serves as an opportunity for Toronto to become a leader in serving an aging population.