E-bike trainings educate students — and maybe help quell controversy

“E-bikes where I live have just taken off,” Lamb said, who is based in Southern California. “My son wanted to get an e-bike, and initially I said no way, and then I started looking for safety training classes in person.”

As a former physical education teacher and triathlete, Lamb said she felt she had the right background and qualification to fill what was clearly a growing need.

Biking to school isn’t new, but the growing e-bike trend has drawn more attention recently, as they can reach speeds between 20-28 mph, depending on the class.

According to data from the Foster City Police Department, there have been about seven collisions involving e-bikes in the city so far this year.

But broaching the topic of e-bike training has become a touchy subject in Foster City recently. Just last month, Mayor Stacy Jimenez initiated a letter to the San Mateo-Foster City School District, which called for the city and district to develop and implement a districtwide education program focused on “e-bike use, safe bicycling and pedestrian practices, and safe driving practices for parents at student drop offs and pick ups.”

The letter turned out to be more controversial than expected. Diego Ochoa, San Mateo-Foster City School District superintendent, pushed back during the meeting, stating that the requested coordination “is already taking place,” adding that if they do engage in a new initiative, it should be one “that is really rooted in data and evidence and not news reports and certainly not social media.”

Interestingly, cycling advocates were also against the letter, with several stating that the city should focus its efforts on improving infrastructure, not putting the burden of road safety on children.

Foster City resident and frequent cyclist Michael Crocker said he was against the letter, not only due to misleading statistics — which stated, among other statics, that nationwide, e-bike injuries are on the rise and 40% occur among riders under 18 — but because the city has had a poor track record of pushing for major infrastructure changes that would improve the well-being of all cyclists.

“Foster City Council has not really been taking any action on infrastructure improvements. In fact, we’ve gone the wrong direction in a lot of ways, in terms of voting for highway expansions and widening roads,” Crocker said.

He said he also wasn’t fully convinced that enhanced law enforcement will make a meaningful difference, countering what Councilmember Patrick Sullivan has called for in response to a recent incident near Bowditch that was caused by a driver running a stop sign. Sullivan had called for “police officers patrolling all the streets” and improved enforcement of current laws.

While the E-Bike Sense course is the first e-bike training held by Bowditch Middle School, Student Services Coordinator Suzi Riley said they’ve been planning the course for a while, and they conduct other bike trainings regularly.

“We’ve done this for a long time,” Riley said. “They’ve counted it, and we have about 108 bike riders just on a regular day at Bowditch.”

Jimenez said she was surprised by the negative reactions to the letter, stating that she was aware that the school district has already made education and training efforts — and she agrees with cycling advocates that the city has to improve its non-vehicle infrastructure.

“All I wanted to do was to say, ‘Let’s be a team. Let’s share resources. Let’s share information and data and use that to keep our kids safe,’” she said. “I know there are things [the district] had previously planned, but I think there is even more that can be done and I simply just wanted to partner together.”

Jimenez said road safety improvements could range from adding crossing guards — with either school district or city resources — or even painting crosswalks different colors. The Foster City Police Department has said it plans to conduct e-bike trainings in the near future.

Like Riley, Jimenez said she was especially intrigued by programs, including one in Hermosa Beach, where students must take a training class and receive a sticker “certification” that must be displayed on their e-bike to park on campus. The idea is just one approach that could garner support from both the district and the city.

“Looking at the e-bike issues, it has to be a multipronged approach,” she said.

The City Council is also discussing the issue again Dec. 15.