TORONTO — Officers patrolling Toronto-area highways handed out 1,735 tickets for improper use of the controversial temporary high-occupancy lanes set up on for the Pan Am Games, police said Thursday.
Another 2,000 tickets were issued along the Games road network for other Highway Traffic Act infractions between June 29, when the HOV lanes came into effect, and July 26, the last day of the Games.
"Considering the amount of traffic that’s coming in and out of Toronto, we don’t see these numbers as excessive at all," said Toronto police Staff Sgt. Devin Kealey. "When you take those two numbers combined… you’re ending up with 133 tickets per day."
Efforts were made to ensure motorists knew about the lanes ahead of time, he said.
"We felt that the public certainly had an adjusting period at the beginning but for the most part, they definitely got on side and that’s why we found the HOV lanes flowed as well as they did."
Some nonetheless broke the rules — including one headline-grabbing case that involved the use of mannequins to try to fool police.
"You’d have definitely tourists coming into the area that weren’t familiar with the HOV lanes and then you’d have people that basically took their chances and decided that they were going to go into the lanes no matter what," Kealey said.
Only vehicles carrying three people or more were allowed in the lanes during that time, in an attempt to encourage carpooling.
The HOV lanes will remain until Aug. 18, a few days after the Parapan Am Games wrap up, but are now open to vehicles with two or more people inside.
Kealey couldn’t say how many tickets have been issued since the required number of occupants dropped to two.
The lanes were the source of much public griping before and during the Games, and transportation officials admitted early on that the average commute into Toronto was slightly longer as a result.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has said the lanes could return in the form of toll lanes.
The temporary HOV lanes have already convinced some drivers to change the way they get around the area, she said.