E-scooter, e-bike riders could face fine of up to $350 amid enforcement blitz by Toronto police

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

Toronto police say e-scooters and e-bikes will be the focus of a new weeks-long enforcement campaign aimed at making streets safer for both pedestrians and motorists.

The campaign, which begins today and runs until Sept. 13, will focus on “education and enforcement” of micromobility vehicles on local, collector, and arterial roads, as well as bike lanes, sidewalks, and crosswalks.

“As more and more people operate these vehicles, education and enforcing the law is more important than ever, especially as the back-to-school season begins,” Toronto police said in a news release issued Monday.

“Officers will also concentrate on traditional school zone safety, paying close attention to drivers who choose to speed; drive aggressively, distracted or impaired; and park or drive within cycle lanes.”

Micromobility vehicles include bicycles, electric bikes, e-mopeds, and e-scooters.

The blitz comes 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.”

“Officers will educate members of the public and enforce the Highway Traffic Act and City of Toronto by-laws on all micromobility vehicles for this campaign,” the news release continued.

Speaking to CP24 on Monday morning, Insp. Matt Moyer said the City of Toronto has already launched a public information campaign and reached out to businesses in the food delivery industry, including Uber, to inform them of the enforcement blitz.

“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,” he said.

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

Moyer said education campaigns combined with enforcement is the most effective strategy.

He said those caught violating the Highway Traffic Act could face fines of between $110 to $350.

“It’s got to be citywide because we are seeing these bikes and these scooters everywhere.”