Upcoming Micromobility Ordinance will also regulate e-bikes

[chris_s]

Hey all – on November 16th the County Board will vote on the “micromobility ordinance”. Most folks think of this as the “scooter ordinance” but it’s going to have major impacts on bikes and e-bikes as well.

For instance: legalizes e-bikes on trails. Sets a speed limit for e-bikes on trails. Gives the County Manager the ability to ban bikes from certain sidewalks without defining any clear public process for making that decision. Sets a speed limit for e-bikes on sidewalks (probably at 6mph). Bans e-bikes on sidewalks on blocks that have a protected bike lane.

Read more here and let the County Board know what you think.

Topic

[Dewey]

@zsionakides 194231 wrote:

With 28mph ebikes being allowed on the MUPs locally, I’d imagine the real speed differential to be much higher than 3-4kph.

This is where I’d like to see ebike researchers like Chris Cherry at UTK and John MacArthur at PSU get funding to carry out a US study equivalent to the German naturalistic cycling study, equipping a variety of pedal bikes and ebikes with data measuring equipment, and getting some US data on path and road speed and behavior. The German study measured mean speed difference of 9kmh between pedal bikes and EU speed pedelecs/US Class 3 equivalent ebikes, speed difference should be lower between pedal bikes and Class 1 & 2 ebikes, Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753515001976

[lordofthemark]

So. trails.

In my City we got a trail, it’s called the Holmes Run Trail. Multiple “temporary” detours. Some with no plans or funding in place to fix. IF we had huge numbers of ebikers relying on it, maybe the City would not let this languish?

Maybe the bike lanes on Seminary would be so full of riders even the most blinkered NIMBY couldn’t say “but I don’t see anyone riding there”.

At some point, screw the Mount Vernon Trail (sorry Judd, et al, you know what I mean) and the Custis . Everything else in the region is just as, if not more, important. Bring on the Ebikes! MORE. NOW.

[dasgeh]

@zsionakides 194231 wrote:

Those on-campus shared use paths the study used are filled with students and are more akin to riding on the sidewalk than an MUP, which is why you see the riding speeds in the 7-8mph range. If you wanted to use that study to infer that ebike riders on sidewalks ride at the same speed as non-powered bikes, that would be reasonable, as the study demonstrates that ebikes slow down a lot in busy, congested corridors as do non-powered riders.
[…]
With 28mph ebikes being allowed on the MUPs locally, I’d imagine the real speed differential to be much higher than 3-4kph.

But isn’t this what we care most about? Not how fast people biking (e- or not) go when there’s no one else around, but how they behave around other people. This study seems to say people on ebikes slow down and behave, more so (relative to street riding) than people riding pedal bikes.

Also, Virginia law changed in July and ebikes that get assist up to 28mph aren’t allowed.

@lordofthemark 194239 wrote:

At some point, screw the Mount Vernon Trail (sorry Judd, et al, you know what I mean) and the Custis . Everything else in the region is just as, if not more, important. Bring on the Ebikes! MORE. NOW.

But really, this. Once we have real congestion on bike trails, then we can talk about restrictions. For now, let’s get more friends using our trails!

[n18]

@dasgeh 194241 wrote:

Also, Virginia law changed in July and ebikes that get assist up to 28mph aren’t allowed.

Link to law here; which I didn’t know it has changed. However, the law doesn’t say they can’t be used, just that they aren’t allowed to go faster than 25 MPH, even on the road it seems. Quote:

“No person shall at any time or at any location operate (i) an electric personal assistive mobility device or an electric power-assisted bicycle at a speed faster than 25 miles per hour“

The limit is less for scooters, 20 MPH.

[Judd]

@lordofthemark 194239 wrote:

So. trails.

In my City we got a trail, it’s called the Holmes Run Trail. Multiple “temporary” detours. Some with no plans or funding in place to fix. IF we had huge numbers of ebikers relying on it, maybe the City would not let this languish?

Maybe the bike lanes on Seminary would be so full of riders even the most blinkered NIMBY couldn’t say “but I don’t see anyone riding there”.

At some point, screw the Mount Vernon Trail (sorry Judd, et al, you know what I mean) and the Custis . Everything else in the region is just as, if not more, important. Bring on the Ebikes! MORE. NOW.

No offense taken. I have ridden the Natchez Trace Parkway, Skyline Drive and the Colonial Parkway and I’d be happy to see the day that riding a bike on the GWMP was both safe and allowed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dewey]

Arlington County Board vote to pass the Micromobility Ordinance. https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/county-board-votes-to-regulate-e-scooters/

[Author]

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