Boise, ID Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Boise City Code section 6-13-8, part of Title 6, Chapter 13 (Bicycles, E-Bikes, and E-Scooters, adopted by Ordinance 28-18 in 2018), requires that wherever a bike lane is present on a roadway, the operator of a bicycle, e-bike, or e-scooter must use that lane and not the roadway. The same duty extends to a bike path immediately adjacent to a roadway when official signs or markings direct riders onto it. The section lists four specific exceptions to the lane-use mandate: when the lane is too narrow for safe operation, when pavement condition, water, dirt, glass or other debris makes the lane unsafe, when the rider is moving into position for a right or left turn, and when an opening car door or other obstruction in an adjacent parking lane forces the rider out of the lane.

A parallel set of two exceptions applies to bike paths: insufficient width, or a surface condition or debris hazard. Enforcement runs through the Boise Police Department under section 6-13-23, which authorizes officers to issue a citation stating the code section violated, the fine amount, and how to contest it. Section 6-13-24 classifies a violation of chapter 13, including section 6-13-8, as an infraction subject to the penalty schedule in section 1-4-2. Under subsection 6-13-23(D), a cited rider has ten business days to pay the fine on the City's Master Fine and Fee Schedule or appear at the City Clerk's Office to contest the citation; missing that window under subsection (E) adds a fifteen dollar administrative fee.

Riders who want to fight a citation in the Fourth District Magistrate Court must first contest it through the Clerk's administrative process and accept service of the summons in person within thirty days, per section 6-13-25, or lose the right to a court hearing.