Are bikes or e-bikes ever allowed to be ridden on the sidewalk?

I’m 60 and, depending on where I’m going, I walk, ride my bike, take transit or drive. I’m not anti-car or anti-bike. But I feel like I’m taking my life in my hands lately when I’m walking on the sidewalk. I’m constantly leaping out of the way for bikes and e-bikes (I now panic when I hear that bell). Are all these delivery bikes allowed to be on busy sidewalks? On quieter sidewalks around my neighbourhood, the culprits are e-bike riders around my age who don’t seem to know the rules. Should anyone be riding on sidewalks? – Carroll, Toronto

In Toronto, bikes and e-bikes have no business riding on sidewalks – even if they’re there for business.

“It’s a major problem with food service delivery,” said Sean Shapiro, a constable with the traffic services division of the Toronto Police Service. “[Cyclists on sidewalks] are putting pedestrians and other people who need that space at risk.”

In Ontario, whether you can ride bikes on sidewalks depends on local bylaws – it isn’t banned by the Highway Traffic Act.

Toronto bans sidewalk riding for anyone over the age of 14. Breaking the law will get you a $60 fine.

“It used to be based on tire diameter, but they amended it to be based on age because people were buying folding bikes with tiny tires and taking over the sidewalk,” Shapiro said. “We want to protect children.”

That means adults riding with children have to ride on the road while the kids can ride on the sidewalk, Shapiro said.

“[Parents] may or may not get a ticket for it, but the law doesn’t give them an exemption because they’re with a child,” Shapiro said. “I understand the perspective of a parent who’s willing to take the ticket because they want to be there to protect their children.”

As for e-bikes, they’re not allowed on sidewalks and nobody under 16 is allowed to ride them, Shapiro said.

Toronto police didn’t immediately have statistics on tickets for sidewalk riding or reported collisions between cyclists and pedestrians. But Shapiro said that, typically, police focus on education and warnings instead of handing out tickets.

The rules vary by city and province, but, in most places, riding any bike on the sidewalk is banned.

In Quebec, for instance, riding on the sidewalk is banned by provincial law. In British Columbia, the province bans it unless municipalities decide to allow it. Most, like Vancouver, don’t allow it. In places where riding on sidewalks is allowed, riders are expected to yield to pedestrians.

‘Walk it on the sidewalk’

We asked police in a few cities whether sidewalk riding was a problem.

In Montreal, police said two of the 24 collisions between cyclists and pedestrians since 2020 have been on a sidewalk.

In 2023, Montreal police handed out 402 tickets for riding on the sidewalk – an $80 fine. So far this year, there have been 119. From 2020 to 2023, they issued an average of 400 tickets a year.

Toronto’s Shapiro said the problem is getting worse.

“[Some cyclists] either are unaware of the rules or don’t care about the rules,” he said. “I’m getting letters from the community where [pedestrians] have been hit or bumped or pushed and then yelled at to get out of the way.”

So, if you’re on a sidewalk and hear a bell from behind, do you have to leap into the bushes?

“A bell is a required piece of hardware on a bicycle, but it’s not intended for telling pedestrians to get out of the way in the space that’s made for them,” Shapiro said. He recognizes that cycling is dangerous, especially in traffic – but he said that’s not an excuse for riding on the sidewalk.

“They can walk it on the sidewalk and be a pedestrian,” he said. He understands that cyclists want to feel safe themselves, “but they can’t make it unsafe or less safe for others. Everyone’s life is important, but just jumping on the sidewalk and taking over is unacceptable.”

Are delivery apps making sure that riders stay off sidewalks? We reached out to a few and heard back from Uber and DoorDash.

Uber said everyone who rides a bike to deliver for Uber Eats is expected to know and follow the law. DoorDash said it regularly reminds its riders of the rules of the road – including “do not ride on sidewalks.”

Shapiro, who said he had once been a serious cyclist and now bikes with his kids, said road users shouldn’t be adversaries.

“We have bonehead drivers, just like we have bonehead cyclists – and I mean that with love,” Shapiro said. “We definitely focus our efforts on the ones driving these big heavy cars that are killing people, but that does not exonerate or take away from the reality that cyclists and pedestrians are not necessarily contributing toward safety.”

Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. E-mails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.