Walking in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

Extreme enforcement of pedestrian right of way:

https://twitter.com/MarketUrbanism/statu...62306?s=19

As I noted in a reply, Atlantic Canada is different somehow.

This is an interesting anecdote, and while it's probably true that I have overstated the ineffectiveness of enforcement, it is equally important to consider policy as a whole.

I.e., how easy it is to compromise or corrupt, how easy is it to reverse.

Enforcement is a bad policy because:

a) it is hard to actually implement for real. If we actually wanted enforcement, we could do it for many things, we could buy traffic cameras, other automated enforcement systems, use technology to help officers be more efficient, etc.

But we don't, because politicians don't want to, enforcement is a useful thing to pretend to do, but it's not actually something we're willing to invest in. Because 

b) It would be unpopular, and very inexpensive to reverse. People get angry when they get a ticket, then they call their elected leader, and instead of asking, "well did you park illegally, yes, then why are you complaining", that elected leader is more likely to push against or put to reverse enforcement efforts. Since there is very little investment and no hard infrastructure (even traffic cameras are made to be moved--not specifically so they can be easily removed, but it is the effect) is used, therefore the cost to roll back enforcement is near zero.  Of course, not everyone will be calling their elected official which leads to...

c) It's easy to corrupt, elected officials don't have to stop enforcement entirely, only on their loudest constitutents...which leads to all sorts of equity issues.

So while, in theory, and even in practice in some places enforcement can have an effect on people's behaviour, I will almost never advocate for it as a public policy or solution to all but the most universally reveiled behaviour (like drunk driving) because I don't believe such a policy will be effective in our political and social structures.

Infrastructure on the other hand can be more egalitarian (yes, there is anti-homeless infra, and yes infra investments can easily be racist, but a narrowed roadway slows all cars to ... borrow a phrase) and it is generally expensive to reverse, a government must pay money to take it out, making removing it unpopular (although, not impossible, and when it comes to paint--well paint isn't infrastructure). But of course, there are also reasons why implementing infrastructure is a very hard thing to do as well.