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E-bikes are the fastest-growing segment of the bicycle industry. They're popular with commuters and baby boomers who might not otherwise be able to get out on a bicycle.
The bikes, which can cost $2,000 or more, combine the frame of a regular bike with lightweight batteries and electric motors for extra zip.
Their sales jumped 72% to $144 million in the U.S. last year, helping to breathe life into bicycle sales that have been relatively flat, according to the NPD Group, which tracks retail bike sales nationwide.
Their popularity has led to conflict.
In bike-friendly southern California, as local land managers take cues from agencies like the National Park Service, some are banning e-bikes from bicycle paths. That has angered riders, said Morgan Lommele, of PeopleForBikes, a bicycle advocacy group and trade association.
[...] Maine and 21 other states have adopted laws that classify e-bikes into categories. Most are treated like regular bicycles under such laws, said Lommele, who has been working with states to create uniform definitions. Only the fastest e-bikes are restricted to roads.
At Acadia National Park, the e-bikes are welcome on paved roads inside the park and even on dirt roads where cars and trucks are allowed.
But they're not allowed on the 57 miles (92 kilometers) of carriage roads funded and built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. that meander throughout the park, offering stunning views of lakes, mountains and the ocean. The carriage paths are popular with bicyclists.
The only exceptions for e-bikes are for people who qualify for mobility devices under the Americans With Disabilities Act, said Christie Anastasia, park spokeswoman.
Should E-bikes be treated like bicycles or motorcycles when it comes to roads, bike paths, and access?
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Lyft Removes Faulty Electric Bicycles From Three Cities
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday July 02 2019, @12:53AM
If sidewalks in your area are wide enough to be deemed shared-use paths [wikipedia.org], good for you. Where I live, a few sidewalks are in fact 9 feet or wider, with the intent of shared use. But most aren't that wide, and many have parts where trees planted adjacent to the sidewalk have pushed up the concrete, creating bumps that impede bicycle travel. And in the central business district (that is, "downtown"), sidewalks are for pedestrians only by city ordinance, and cyclists must share the road with motorists.
When not preparing for a left turn, I use the bike lane where available, and I treat the shoulder as a bike lane when it is safe (such as lacking debris that could cause a puncture). I may also use the sidewalk for the first and last blocks of a trip. But a lot of roads in my city have neither a bike lane nor a safe shoulder nor a shared-use-grade sidewalk, in which case I use the right half of the right through lane. In fact, many roads not wide enough for a bike lane in each direction have a "sharrow" marking [wikipedia.org] (bicycle pictogram with two chevrons above it) to encourage this sharing.