What to know
- The Toronto Police Service announced a new educational and enforcement campaign aimed at micromobility devices.
- The campaign runs until Aug. 24, capitalizing on the back-to-school season.
- TPS officers will provide road users with information on including illegal sidewalk riding, wrong-way riding in cycle tracks, illegal e-moped use in cycle tracks, and illegal parking in bike lanes.
- Torontonians are not impressed with the two-week campaign, noting it needs to be all-year round.
As Toronto approaches back-to-school season, the Toronto Police Service has unveiled a new campaign for micromobility vehicles.
A new campaign from the Toronto Police Service (TPS) aims to help residents better understand the rules of the road for e-scooters, e-bikes, mopeds, cargo bikes, and non-electric bicycles.
The campaign will see officers provide road users with information on laws, bylaws, and safe operating practices, including illegal sidewalk riding, wrong-way riding in cycle tracks, illegal e-moped use in cycle tracks, and illegal parking in bike lanes.
Police plan to enforce the Highway Traffic Act, City of Toronto bylaws, and other applicable legislation on roadways, bike lanes, cycle tracks, sidewalks, crosswalks, and other areas where micromobility vehicle activity is common.
Additionally, officers will focus on education and enforcement related to Toronto’s prohibition on e-scooters. While it is not illegal to buy or own an e-scooter, they are not permitted on public roads, sidewalks, bike lanes, cycle tracks, or trails in Toronto.
This effort coincides with the City of Toronto’s “Rules for Rideables” campaign that also aims at educating Torontonians with brightly coloured posters and catchy slogans such as, “You’ve got wheels. They’ve got heels. Don’t ride on the sidewalk” and “Stopping in the bike lane grinds everyone’s gears.”
The new campaign is currently underway, running through Aug. 24. It comes as the TPS responded to 514 incidents involving micromobility devices, or “rideables,” in 2026 alone.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)also cracked down on these devices, banning them on all subways, streetcars, and buses from Nov. 15 to April 15 each year.
Torontonians react
Although the TPS turned off the comments under the X post announcing the campaign, the comments under the r/Toronto subreddit did not hold back.
One comment reads, “Then after two weeks, it’ll go back to business as usual (IE, nothing)” while another agreed, responding, “Right. This ”safety blitz” plan needs to be year-round, not 2 weeks in August.”
Other Redditors are frustrated with food delivery app drivers who keep parking in the city’s bike lanes, with one person commenting, “I wish. If they can go as fast as car traffic, which most of them can, they should not be allowed in bike lanes. They are basically electric motorcycles.”
The City has attempted to enforce and educate residents on micromobility devices in previous years, to little avail. In November 2024, the TPS had its ‘Safe Ride, Safe Streets’ initiative, focusing on e-scooters and e-bikes riders.
