UPDATE: I decided to do an unscientific study today. I rode from 11:30 AM-12:30 PM on one of my one-speed bikes, 10 miles from Cherry Rock Park circling South to West 12th street. This is what I counted;
I found ZERO; One Wheels, Electric Scooters or Wheelchairs, Electric Foot Scooters or Electric Skateboards, E-I or E-III bikes or regular foot scooters (I have seen all of these vehicles in the past just not today).
Regular bikes (no assist or light weight for fast riding); 61
Walkers; 44
Children riding bikes; 12
Dogwalkers; 9
E-II (assist plus throttle); 8
Light weight road bike (riding over 20 MPH); 7
Baby Strollers; 5
Joggers; 4
Regular skateboard; 1
I found no surprises while I took this survey, most of the users are regular bicyclists and walkers which is normal. As for the riders of E-II bikes they were all in their late 60’s to early 70’s. It was 4 individual riders and 2 couples. They were maintaining a speed of around 20 MPH which is no surprise since that is the max speed setting on most E-II’s.
Yes, that is a picture of me riding my E-Bike on the bike trail. I had no idea Lalley was taking photos for his article until he asked my permission to use the photo. We will get to the nuts and bolts of his article in a moment, but apparently this line in his piece didn’t sit well with the SFPD;
The reality is that any law is only as good as the willingness of the government to enforce it.
(Looking at you, casual marijuana user.)
Or at least publicize it.
There is no guidance out on the trail system currently beyond the general rules of the road and ride at a safe and courteous speed.
So the SFPD responded to the article today on their favorite place to inform the public (I didn’t find one single comment that thinks enforcing E-Bike rules is a good idea);
It seems all you have to do is lightly mock the SFPD about enforcement of a useless ordinance and they snap into action. It is going to be fun watching officers hand tickets to grandparents riding E2 bikes pulling their wagon with Ms. Kitty in it. Will they also be giving speeding tickets to wannabe Lance Armstrongs for booking over 30 MPH on the trail on there 18 lb carbon fiber road bike?
The ordinance has been in effect since 2018 and I am pretty sure it has NEVER been enforced. There is also NO signage on the rec trail telling folks the speed limit or the restrictions of authorized vehicles.
In other words NO enforcement and NO notification . . . except on Facebook 🙂
When you get into discussions about the repealing the ordinances, councilors and other whiners in the bike community complain that it is complicated because of all these classifications, different emerging vehicles and technologies and the interaction with pedestrians.
But after reading over 90 comments with 99% of them in favor of eliminating the ordinance you wonder what kind of input the council got from the public when crafting this five years ago besides a handful of whiners? It’s time to start listening to the market on this. The E-Bike industry is one of the fastest growing in the United States, but once again the Sioux Falls attitude of go it alone, I know better then the rest of the country, is contributing to this.
There is also an attitude, especially at City Hall these days that climate change is NOT real and anything electric is bad. I often suggest to these people they should just run their homes on coal. If electricity is bad for a bike or car, isn’t it bad for your home? C’mon climate change denier, buck up, show us what you really think!
They are really overthinking it and only need to look at other communities for assistance. I would start with something very simple, get it on the books, and over the year study what needs to be tweaked and revisit it with changes;
- Repeal all current restrictions, re-write from scratch
- Post the speed limit of 15 MPH on the trail
- Paint a white center line with pavement signage every 1/4 mile that says KEEP RIGHT
- Allow Class II and Class III bikes, AS long as they maintain the speed limit, have pedals and only use pedal assist (NO THROTTLING). This is a simple setting on the bike.
- Allow electric vehicles that CAN be ridden at a safe speed (this will be the hardest part of crafting the ordinance)
- Have monthly enforcement on Saturdays where police hand out warnings for speed.
I know it seems laughable that an ordinance has been on the books for almost 5 years and there has been no public notification (signage) or enforcement. At least the person running the FB page for the SFPD was paying attention, better get them a challenge coin 🙂
No Victim No crime!
Where the bike trail is found on the dike of the west side of the main bike trail loop, there are signs which say no motorized vehicles on the dike, or trail. So, how are any e-bikes legal on that part of the trail? It seems to me that we have two conflicting ordinances.
( and Woodstock adds: “Personally, I think that e-bikes are to the bike trail what Asian Carp are to our lakes and streams”… 🙂 )
While we’re talking about the rules, written and unwritten, of the bike trails, let’s also somehow inform couples and (especially) families that they need to make a little room for bikes to pass. The walking roadblocks of a litter of idiots walking side by side are almost as annoying as the Tour de France wannabes.
Run your house on coal….um, you do know a ton of electricity comes from coal, right? And, no one denies the climate is changing, it has for millions of years, that is a dumbocrat talking point, only ? listen to that garbage, follow the ?. NO electric bikes should be allowed on our trails, period, there are streets for them.
lol who remembers the split rail fence checkpoints you’d have to walk ur bike over & thru every couple miles back when the trail was made that kept out the motorcycler trash, now its law enforcement who is trying to make 1%’ers out of everyone out for a spin
Its like the fireworks ordinance. Once in awhile they will remind you its City Ordinance but they will never enforce it!
I’ve never had a problem with someone on an E-Bike on the trail. On the other hand, I’ve had numerous problems with clueless families taking up the whole path for their Sunday walk, loving couples walking hand in hand oblivious to bikes, or hapless idiots walking their dog on a long leash as i try to avoid them and their dog.
Corn Dogger makes a good point. The trails are transportation. Yield to one side. What’s happened is trails have become a good fair weather route around the city. I’m surprised there’s not 3 wheel pedi-Ubers. When E-Bikes (any class) must have license, registration, and insurance is when there should be enforcement.
What about Mopeds? If they have pedals, then are they legal on the bike trail, too? #MopedNation #SturgisByMoped
If E-bikes are to Mopeds what Teslas are to the Model T, then why aren’t Mopeds legal on the bike trail as well?
Somehow our political correctness, our trendy feel, has allowed E-bikes to be seen in a different light, but should they be?
If Mopeds are a danger, to the trail that is, then why aren’t E-bikes?
KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). License and tax everything with wheels. The faster it can go the more the tax. Harleys, $1000 a year. Roller blades, $5. No speed limit. Just careless driving tickets. At the end of the month ticket everybody (No Reason). Put cops every 100 yards. For accidents, pool all assets of all parties and civilly disburse equally except for 25% city fee. Anyone recording with a cell phone gets arrested and buys all inmates steak dinner.
There, doesn’t sound fair but it’s the Strong Mayor Charter solution.
June is confrontational. LBGTQ month (10,000 person parade), Juneteenth (African American day), Trump’s birthday (another Presidents’ Day). No violence, the city has to be proud and nationally unusual. I’m fine with everything. My bigotry is cured. However, how about one day (not necessarily a month) designated ‘Straight and you look White’? Polo shirts and sweaters tied around the waist. Nothing pink. A parade dressed as confederate generals would be taking it to far.
DS’s wheel tax reminds me of an old joke about the pearly gates and how your faithfulness, while on earth, determines your form of transportation in Heaven, and as this determination is being explained to some newly deceased souls, they then happened to watch St. Peter whiz by on roller skates…. 🙂
please regulate the gd sipncycles downtown to do more than 5mph in the middle of the lane
How about if we just got rid of the “gd sipncycles” altogether? They are a public display of drunkenness. Those under the influence determine the speed of the vehicles in hand, yet they are legal. Not to mention that they are a complete embarrassment to anyone with any sense of couth. They make a gypsy wagon or a parade of clowns (Masons?) look legit. Why not add stripper poles to them with bikini clad patrons, if we are going to keep them, however. It could be like a Snoop Dogg concert on wheels, but best to slow down and quiet the music while passing the Levitt or the complainy adjacent condos…. would be my recommendation… Although the patrons could still spin on the spinncycle, I mean sipncycle, I suppose….
“Say, tell me more about this idea of having stripper poles on the sipncycles”…. “We would probably finally make The NY Times with that concept”…. “Meanwhile, Fargo, without sipncycles, is beloved by the Times”…..:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/travel/fargo-upscales.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/nyregion/nyc-chinatown-fire.html