Turn the volume down on vehicle noise, Toronto residents ask city, police

More than two years ago, the streets were quiet around Ingrid Buday's west-end Toronto condo.COVID-19 had just hitand the roads were empty.

"I felt like there was just this expanse where I could enjoy my balcony and I could sleep at night with the door open," Buday said.

It didn't last. At 3 o'clock one morning in April 2020, theroar of a motorcycle'sengine went on for 10 minutes. She figuredit must have been more than sixkilometres away. And then it hit her, one person onone motorcycle has the potential to disturb thousandsof people.

"Just because somebody is doing this behaviour, that doesn't mean that I should have to accommodate it by putting in ear plugs," she said.

The repeated disturbance from motorcycles prompted Buday to buy an $8,000 environmental noise meter and begin taking measurements. In August 2021, she joinedthe DVP Noise Action Group. Sheand other residentssay noise from motorcycle racing and modified exhaust systemsis common late at night. They sayengines often rumble, growland backfireon city streets.

The DVP Noise Action Group says the city and police aren't doing enough to stop it and ticket numbers appear to back that up. Under its noise bylaw from October 2019 to April 2022, the city issued one charge for unnecessary motor vehicle noise and nine charges for motorcycles exceeding the permitted decibel level. Under the Highway Traffic Act, police laid 983 noise-related charges in 2021 and 304 noise-related charges in 2022.In September 2019, a blitzdesignedto crack down on excessive vehicle noise in Toronto resulted in police mostly issuing tickets for speeding.

The group is calling onthe city and police to step up automated enforcement. Members have called and emailedcity councillors andreported incidents to police. Some have submitted photos of cars, licence plates and mufflers. But they say nothing is changing.

A city council committee is set to meet on Wednesdayto consider a staff report on "outstanding noise directives." The city plansto review its 2019 noise bylaw next year. Police say they hopeto conduct joint enforcement blitzes withbylaw officers this summer, but some residents don't think any ofthis will help.

On Wednesday, the city's economic and community development committee will consider whether council should:

• Ask the province to increase fines for violations of modified exhaust and excessive vehicle noise under the Highway Traffic Actand to ensure violations result in demerit points.
• Let licensed car repair facilities knowthat certain exhaust system modifications are not legal, and if the shops break the law, they won't be licensed.
• Direct the headofmunicipal licensing and standards to report during the 2023 noise bylaw review on motor vehicle noise,to assess options to curb vehicle noiseand to monitor technological developments onautomated noise enforcement.

Toronto Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson, chair of the city'seconomic and community development committee, saidmuch work has been done on what he called a complicated and challenging problem.

"We are encouraging members of the community to reach out to 311 or to councillors' offices to inform them as to where these activities are taking place and generally when," he said.

"As a government, we have to work harder to be able to address the complaints that are coming through."

City received 900 emails about noise over 3 weeks

Thompson, who represents Scarborough Centre, saidhe believes the problem has gotten worseacross the city.

"Now it's an epidemic, quite frankly," he said. "It's challenging for enforcement but even more so it's challenging for residents who are on the receiving end of the noise."

Thompson agreedthat street racing and stunt driving have made the problemworse. According to the report, staff solicited feedback from the public about vehicle and leaf blower noise from March 30 to April 20 this year and received 900 emails.

According to a summary ofthoseemails, residents said they believe excessive vehicle noise is theresult of speeding, aggressive and dangerous driving, and modified exhaust systems particularly in areasalong Lake Shore Boulevard, Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, and in Yorkville. Residents reported hearing street racing and stunt driving frequently at night.

The report saysthe majority of residentssupport an increase in enforcement.

Both city bylaw, police officers needed for enforcement

Thompson saidthe problem is complicated because enforcement is done by both police and bylaw officers and it is regulated by both the city's noise bylaw and the province's Highway Traffic Act.

The bylaw regulates what the city calls "episodic types of noise"and it stipulates a decibel limit for motorcycles but not for other vehicles. Motorcycles are not allowed to emit any sound exceeding 92 dB(A) from the exhaust outlet as measured at 50 centimetres, while the motorcycle engine is at idle.

The bylaw prohibits the emitting of sound "resulting from unnecessary motor vehicle noise, such as the sounding of a horn, revving of an engine, squealing of tires, banging, clanking or any like sound that is clearly audible at a point of reception."

The act, section 75 (1), states: "... no person shall use a muffler cut-out, straight exhaust, gutted muffler, Hollywood muffler, by-pass or similar device upon a motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle."Fines for a first offence start at $500 and can go up to $1,000.

The report says some residents want a specific decibel limit to be introduced for all vehicles.

'Certainly, we are doing something,' Toronto police say

Police, for their part, say they are enforcing the act and working with bylaw officers to enforce the bylaw. City bylaw officers require the presence of police to issue tickets for noise bylaw infractions. That means the police pull vehicles over, the bylaw officers perform tests using a decibel meter, and then they issue tickets.

Sgt. Melissa Kulik and Const. Sean Shapiro,spokespeoplefor the police's traffic services unit, said last summer police conducted a blitz with bylaw officers, and will do so again this summer. Kulik said police are constantly patrolling the DVP and Gardiner Expressway.

"We do always have officers out there on those roadways looking for infractions," she said.

Shapiro said there is no question that policeare making an effort to curb excessive vehicle noise.

"Certainly, we are doing something," Shapiro said. "To some degree, what we do doesn't end the problem. It addresses the behaviour and documents it. Even if we were to ticket five different people, you may get five new ones who drive by tomorrow."

Budaysaidshe has collected thousands of hours of data using thenoise meter that she bought, and motorcycle racing continues to keepher awake at night.

Budaysaidthe city should have a maximum decibel level for all vehicles, not only motorcycles, and that the noise bylaw should be redrafted, andenforcement blitzes need to be like the RIDE programs that look forimpaired drivers.

"People are increasingly frustrated at the prevalence of the noise and lack of enforcement," she said.

"We'retired of it."