Toronto Police are on a blitz this week following Mayor John Tory's announcement of a new, six-point plan to ease traffic congestion within the city.
The week-long traffic blitz – or "heightened rush hour route enforcement campaign," as the city put it – kicked off Monday and will continue through to Friday during times of peak traffic in the downtown core.
Good morning #Toronto. Day 3 of #getTOmoving #RushHpurTO blitz. 150$ 📝 and tow, begins at 7am. Do you know where your car is? ^ka http://pic.twitter.com/jRDNDAJniZ
— TPS Parking (@ParkingTPS) September 21, 2017
Being that pretty much every cop is now also a social media whiz, the initiative has hashtags so that citizens can follow along as naughty drivers get busted for breaking the rules.
#GetTOMoving and #RushHourTO are giving Torontonians some serious schadenfreude, but it seems to be the parking enforcement officers themselves having the most fun with this blitz on Twitter.
Grand total for today's PM #RushHourTO 84 📝 and 15 tows. http://pic.twitter.com/kEy2EEyucd
— Sabrina Kloetzig (@TPS_pke_rider) September 19, 2017
Toronto's fleet of tweet-happy bike cops have been ticketing and towing anyone they can find illegally blocking traffic downtown, and they want citizens of the internet to know about it.
Waiting for tow for this @canadapostcorp truck, tag on the right is over a month old. Didn't fool me. Here's a new $150 tag #GetTOMoving http://pic.twitter.com/szAfGwq35O
— PEO Erin Urquhart (@TPS_BikeHart) September 18, 2017
This makes sense. The blitz is as much about awareness as it is enforcement. It also makes sense that these officers are proud of their accomplishments. They do their jobs well, and they're making a difference.
What makes less sense is how openly gleeful, and playful the cops, are being about busting bad parkers.
This motorist on Adelaide saw me, drove past to avoid ticket and parked on sidewalk to let spouse out. #YouveGotMail #getTOmoving #TOPoli http://pic.twitter.com/9AX33dizDl
— PEO K. Ashley (@TPS_ParkingPal) September 20, 2017
It can be argued that the people blocking traffic deserve to be put on blast for breaking the law. I wouldn't disagree with that – but it could also be argued that something feels kind of weird about seeing cops take selfies with the cars they're having towed.
.@TimHortons - people before pastries. How many people have you inconvenienced by making your delivery in a rush hour zone. #getTOmoving http://pic.twitter.com/tnAUfBAyrR
— PEO K. Ashley (@TPS_ParkingPal) September 19, 2017
And tweeting 'Rush Hour' GIFs...
Rush Hour Blitz This Week! Double Check Where You Park! #KeepingItClear #ILike2MoveItMoveIt http://pic.twitter.com/CdQpZK06Wv
— Adam Campbell (@tps_enforcethe6) September 18, 2017
And Photoshopping themselves into memes...
Today I had a shorter ride but did Bloor-Bay-Wellesley-Sherbourne-Gerrard-#bikelanes & only have this to present to you #bikeTO to be mailed http://pic.twitter.com/CdsfZF1BBG
— PEO Erin Urquhart (@TPS_BikeHart) September 14, 2017
And using more emojis like my mom did when she first discovered emojis...
Clearing the Dundas St W #rushhour #RushHourTO #getTOmoving http://pic.twitter.com/K7ri5IZy4F
— Cris Bauer (@TPS_Bauer) September 20, 2017
By and large, responses to the police officers have been overwhelmingly positive. Members of the #BikeTO community have even been contributing to the hashtag with emoji-laden snaps of their own.
When #BikeTO gets a power-up, rushour lanes clear, vulnerable road users gain Safety +1, & traffic keeps moving. Thx Super @TPS_ParkingPal 🤣 http://pic.twitter.com/5sJlEG8NrJ
— Rob McLarty (@robmclarty) September 20, 2017
But some tweets are just a little bit too accusatory for Twitter's tastes.
"Mom on way to daycare came running up to her car on back of tow truck in No Stopping #RushHourTO-Release on scene $80.23 & $150 ticket," reads a tweet from the @TorontoPolice account sent Monday.
"Proud of what you do but probably not a good idea to boast about ticketing a mom on way to pick up her kids," replied a citizen. "Life's already hard enough #empathy"
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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