Toronto police issue 3,500 tickets in safety blitz targeting e-bikes, e-scooters

A food delivery courier rides an e-bike in Toronto on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Toronto police say 3,500 tickets were laid as part of a back-to-school safety blitz targeting micromobility vehicles, including e-bikes and e-scooters.

The safety enforcement campaign ran from Aug. 25 to Sept. 13 and focused on micromobility vehicles on roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, and at crosswalks.

The blitz was in response to a recommendation by Toronto city council to “enhance public awareness” of safety-related issues involving these vehicles, “including illegal sidewalk riding, wrong way riding in cycle tracks, illegal e-moped use in cycle tracks, and illegal parking in bike lanes.”

Insp. Matt Moyer previously told CP24 that the City of Toronto launched a public information campaign in advance of the safety blitz. City officials also reached out to businesses in the food delivery industry, including Uber, to inform them of the enforcement campaign.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback that came to us both through our divisions and through traffic services that speaks to just the lack of education that people have about what’s right, what can I ride, where can I ride it, what’s safe, what’s not safe,” Moyer said last month.

“Really what we’ve discovered is that public education campaigns alone are really insufficient when you try to drive meaningful behaviour change.”

The fines ranged from $110 to $350.