Toronto Police Issue 300+ Tickets in Micromobility Crackdown
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
A two-week enforcement blitz targeting e-bikes and scooters resulted in hundreds of warnings and over 1,200 parking fines.
Toronto police completed a city-wide enforcement campaign from Aug. 10 to Aug. 24 targeting the illegal use of micromobility devices, including e-scooters, e-bikes, bicycles, cargo bikes, and mopeds. According to early data released by Toronto police, officers issued 324 tickets and warnings during the blitz. Police noted this preliminary total is expected to rise as handwritten tickets are still being transcribed.
Reporting from CityNews Toronto and CBC Toronto indicates the campaign focused on high-risk behaviors such as illegal sidewalk riding, wrong-way riding in cycle tracks, and the use of e-mopeds in cycle tracks. The Toronto Police Service (TPS) reiterated that e-scooters are banned in all public spaces, including trails, roads, and sidewalks.
Beyond micromobility riders, police issued 1,277 parking tickets to vehicles blocking bike lanes. TPS stated the goal of the initiative was to reduce collisions involving "vulnerable road users," noting that 514 collisions involving micromobility devices occurred in Toronto as of Aug. 10, including two fatal e-scooter crashes.
While police emphasized education and awareness, Michael Longfield of the biking advocacy group Cycle Toronto told CBC Toronto that while removing vehicles from bike lanes is a critical safety measure, focusing resources on micromobility is frustrating given that motor vehicle collisions cause more deaths in Toronto than homicides. Longfield suggested that police enforcement may be the only available tool due to the province's removal of bike lanes and speed cameras.