Toronto, Ontario — March 4, 2015 — The numbers are in following the initial launch of Toronto Mayor John Tory’s aggressive tag-and-tow policy, showing a six percent decrease in city-wide towing.
In a report by Global News, city data — obtained from a police-created chart provided by the Parking Ticket Operations division of Toronto’s Revenue Services — indicates January, the first month of the blitz, saw an average of 81 less vehicles towed during rush hour, when compared to December’s totals. The number of cars tagged also dipped, decreasing from 8,013 to 7,898.
Conversely, in relation to last year, parking tickets have jumped by almost 35 percent — with the city issuing over 11,000 tickets between the January 5 launch date and February 13, according to the report.
Tory says the tow policy, which is part of the mayor’s six point plan to reduce traffic congestion in the city, seems to be working.
“I get anecdotal evidence and people tweeting me pictures of cars being towed away, pretty much every day, and I get people speaking to me about it on the subway and in the street pretty much every day,” he said early February, when speaking with reporters.
