Four city staffers mounted on e-bikes are likely to begin continuously monitoring Toronto’s bike lane network this year, according to a report put to the Toronto and East York Community Council.
The four staffers will be looking to ensure safety in Toronto’s bike lanes. The officials will patrol for debris, obstructions and will conduct inspections of bike lane conditions near construction sites.
In August 2024, the City of Toronto stepped up bike lane enforcement near construction sites, which resulted in 33 notices of violation and six bylaw charges.
Though the report, which was released on Thursday, doesn't directly make the connection, the push for the enforcement fleet began immediately following the death of a cyclist on Bloor Street West in late July. The cyclist, who was riding near Avenue Road, died after entering a traffic lane to go around a construction bin that had been placed in the designated bike lane.
The city laid bylaw charges against the bin disposal company responsible. At the time, local Coun. Dianne Saxe called for criminal charges to be laid instead.
Cleaning up Toronto’s bike lanes
The city’s bike lanes enforcement fleet is expected to expand to eight members in 2026.
City officials said they are also working on creating a more efficient system for referring complaints about bike lane obstructions. The complaints, made through 311, will allow communication with the dedicated group of bike lane inspectors.
The city report is a response to a council decision from November to create a “street sweeping standard” for bike lanes.
At the time, Coun. Paula Fletcher called the city’s bike lanes “filthy” and said they were in desperate need of a clean-up.
"Residents should not have to be hindered by these dangerous conditions during their commutes,” she wrote in a letter. “Cleaner streets are the first step in addressing safer streets, especially for cyclists."
The report released Thursday was written by three senior officials in the city’s transportation department.
Personal injury lawyer David Shellnutt, commonly known as The Biking Lawyer, said he personally knows the dangers of cycling in the city’s bike lanes.
For Shellnutt, the city’s decision to monitor bike lanes hasn’t come soon enough.
"These kinds of inspections are welcomed but could have saved time, money and prevented injuries for years had they been instituted when bike lanes were installed," he wrote in an e-mailed comment.
"Our bike lanes are only safe if they remain free from blockages. Otherwise, this public infrastructure [is] just expensive and useless."
