What would be any reasons to come up with an idea to prohibit (?!) e-bikes (which are still, ekhm, bikes) from bike trails?
this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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Kinda depends on the trail: If it's MTB trail, prohibiting ebikes is pretty reasonable because they are way heavier and cause a lot of damage. There's also assholes who rip by on illegally modified ebikes at 30+mph through crowded paths.
To a degree, some sort or regulation seems pretty reasonable (stick to speed limits, don't take bikes with e-assist on trails that prohibit them/aren't built for them, etc.)
I understand the weight issue, but what good does making all e-bikes illegal do to prevent people using already illegal e-bikes? If the issue is people illegally modifying their bikes, then that should be what is enforced, not making things illegal for those following the rules.
Most of the trails in the city I live in have a 20 km/h speed limit. I tend to see a lot more regular bikes exceeding that than I do e-bikes. But regardless of type of bike, they should both be stopped for going too fast.
Weight restrictions also seem silly, a trail is going to get the same amount of damage if a bike + person weighs 300+ pounds, regardless of whether that's a bike packer, a very heavy person on a bike, or an ebike. Or someone riding that ungodly heavy new Brompton.
Speed limits seem more practical, but the only people I've seen dangerously overtaking have been the spandex types that have zero time for things like traffic laws while grinding for PRs on Strava. Men of a certain age :P
Yeah, I'm with you. A fully paved "trail" that's virtually flat and wide enough to accommodate multiple pedestrians? Fine with me, provided they're not whipping by without giving people proper berth.
A walking path in a park that allows bikes? Maybe. Use your best judgement. Don't be an asshole and put people in danger or make them feel unsafe in an environment that's supposed to be relaxing.
On off-road trail built for mountain bikes? No. That's just asking for an accident to happen, either from a crash or from over-stressing/tearing up the trail.
E-Bikes are banned in many trails in my area. Even the paved ones.
Risk to other trail users.
Ottawa has a bunch of bike trails that are also used by pedestrians (which is stupid), so there's a speed limit around 20 kph. Cyclists regularly do over 30, which is risky for pedestrians, but they generally segment by time of day so it's fine.
Add people doing 50kph on e-bikes and other cyclists will be at risk - the paths are not wide so passing will become dangerous.
The obvious solution is to have real bike lanes on roads, with enough room for passing, but society isn't there yet.
IIRC e-bikes are limited to 32 km/h in Canada, and are programmed to stop pedal assist beyond that speed.
The real solution is to not mix people walking with people biking on the few, narrow paths that Ottawa does have, the same way you don't want to mix people biking with cars. I think a widening of the River Pathway would be enjoyed by basically everyone, for example.
Also, the roads that run parallel to some of these mixed use pathways would suck to bike on, even with a physically separated lane since these roads have drivers doing 70-90 km/h
I think segregation is right in some circumstances but disagree that it's the "real solution".
Perhaps this is completely unrealistic but IMO the solution is for all path users to share the path with other users. This doesn't just mean faster users slowing down to avoid slower users, but slower users also being aware of their surroundings and some of the potential dangers.
Agreed.
Yes, but they must not ask if I'm okay when biking up a steep mountain. It's called panting, lol. 1-2 people asking is fine, but by the 30th passing emtber asking if you're okay is actually kind of annoying.
The only thing that actually needs to be banned are cars in (protected) bike lanes and horses on bike trails. Both are extremely annoying, and dangerous.
Anything that goes faster than a bike should stick to trails marked for motorbikes, not a complicated policy. Same goes for allowing them on sidewalks too. Some people don't see anything wrong with riding a bike at 30 mph on a sidewalk, partly because they have no idea how fast they're going, and partly because they're the main character.
No, what should be banned are those racing (non electric) bikes that are passing everyone at light speed. Those people are dangerous!