The Half Moon Bay City Council has decided against having e-bikes and other electrified vehicles on the Coastal Trail, citing concerns about speed and public safety for other trail users.
Deborah Penrose
“I think this is the right decision to make,” Mayor Deborah Penrose said. “We do not need e-bikes on our coastal trail.”
At its April 4 meeting, city staff presented the council with potential options for allowing class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes, electric scooters and electric boards on all Half Moon Bay-owned multi-use trails and establishing 15 mph limits and 5 mph when passing people. The council decided against e-bikes on the Coastal Trail, a popular hiking trail that runs 11.5 miles from Miramar to Half Moon Bay. However, the council was amenable to allowing e-bikes on the Eastside Parallel Trail and Naomi Patridge Trail.
E-bikes and other electric skateboards and scooters have grown in sales and popularity as an environmentally friendly option. However, there has been opposition over concerns about dangerous interactions between walkers and bikers amid worries about the speed of e-bikes. Class 1 bikes provide assistance up to 20 mph and are pedal-assist only, meaning the motor kicks in as you pedal the bike. Class 2 bikes reach 20 mph but are also equipped with a throttle, meaning you are not required to pedal. Class 3 bikes assist up to 28 mph and are pedal assist only. Concerns remain about e-bike speeds on trails and pedestrian safety, particularly the coastal trail, where congestion causes issues and widening the trail is not an option.
Councilmember Harvey Rarback remained worried about safety issues of not controlling e-bikes, saying someone could be killed in a collision between a person on an e-bike and a pedestrian.
“Having them on the Coastal Trail makes no sense to me from a safety perspective,” Rarback said.
His thinking was seconded by Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez, who argued it would be difficult for families and seniors to avoid collisions with e-bikes going 15 mph and favored not having them on the Coastal Trail.
“Let’s make sure our children, dog walkers and seniors enjoy the Coastal Trail,” Jimenez said.
A 2022 city survey found that 65.1% of those surveyed supported allowing e-bikes and e-devices on all trails. However, the public speakers at the April 4 meeting expressed concern about how pedestrians, bicyclists, older people, kids and dogs will all be able to use the space. Public speaker Joyce Logan worried about safety issues on the Coastal Trail leading to people falling because e-bikes are cycling past. She worried about enforcement issues that could create conflict.
“I’m worried about the liability of the city of creating a known hazard,” Logan said.
The city still needs to pass an ordinance, meaning the rules under the California Vehicle Code still apply. CVC guidelines say class 1 and 2 e-bikes are permitted on city-owned multi-use trails, and class 3 e-bikes are prohibited from all trails and paths. Surrounding state and county parks have 15 mph limits. Motorized wheelchairs and Segways would still be allowed under new rules to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The council also debated having “share the trail” signs along Half Moon Bay’s multi-use trails. The council was against signs on the Coastal Trail and felt it would not be helpful and hurt the views in the area.
City staff will now work to craft an ordinance for council review and approval.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
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(4) comments
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Great job, ignoring their own survey 🙄 This primarily punishes seniors, who will not get to explore the coastal trail.
So the people that said "Electrification" is all about inequity, discrimination and absolutely NOT about sustainability were correct? HMB council members did not take long to reveal their true colors.
This really was all about discrimination against All-Ages-and-Abilities (AAA) and low-income residents.
Council members Rarback and Jiminez are both sitting on the Board of Peninsula Clean Energy. As board members of PCE they are both promoting e-Bikes heavily as a means to replace car trips. They even subsidize the sales price for lower income residents.
PCE quote: "e-Bikes show particular appeal for those on tight budgets due to the low operating cost – if they can afford the purchase price, says Phillip Kobernick, transportation program manager for Peninsula Clean Energy, a clean-energy electricity utility which powers San Mateo County. The real story is that car trips are the number-one thing people are replacing, using e-bikes. Surveys show that, 94% of buyers reported replacing car trips with bike trips, 75% of trips were practical — like work, errands, friends and family — rather than recreational, 30% of respondents said the ebike had become their primary transportation"
According to AARP data, boomers (aka "old people") are behind the explosion of e-bike sales during the pandemic. In Europe these bicycles, where you still need to pedal, are called pedelecs and they brought many senior citizens with all kinds of ailments back to cycling. People with disabilities can get back on their bikes. Families with young children buy e-Bikes.
Since 2021, e-Bikes are also the number one Electric Vehicle on both continents.
If this was about safety or speed, then regular bikes would have been banned as well. If this was about safety, they would ban Ferraris, Porsches, Teslas on residential streets, shopping center parking lots, basically anywhere where pedestrians are near. Now if a ban of Ferraris, Porsches, Teslas - just because they COULD drive fast - sounds nonsensical to people, basically the same is true for e-Bikes. There are plenty of trail users on regular bikes riding way faster than a Senior Citizen on their little e-Bike or e-tricycle would. But the bike-bros get to stay and the All-Ages-and-Abilities with sustainable e-Bikes are banned.
If these council members and their "electrification" codes were all about "sustainability" they would leave pedestrians and cyclists pretty much alone. California safety data clearly shows pedestrians and cyclists are in danger mostly along Hwy 1, Hwy 92, but certainly not on trails. While encounters between pedestrians and cyclists might be of the level "annoying" for both sides - they are hardly every deadly. The rare times they are, they become national news.
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