Cyclists, e-bikers spar for road

For cyclist Paul Farnan, it’s simple: bike lanes are the only place in the city where you can operate non-motorized vehicles in relative safety.

To buttress his point, he showed up at Saturday’s stakeholders’ open house with photographs of the muscular electric two-wheeled vehicles he fears will squeeze cyclists out of bike lanes if the city abolishes rules keeping electric bicycles out of bike lanes and parks.

“It’s a thin edge of the wedge thing,” he says, pointing at a photo of an electric scooter. “I don’t know what reality anybody lives in where

that is a bicycle.” But for Gary Salo, the conflict is just as clear-cut: Toronto should place e-bikes — bicycles with pedals and an electric motor — into the same category as normal bikes and allow access to bicycle lanes. He says cyclists who don’t want to share are either selfish or indifferent to the peril e-bike riders face.

“We feel we’re in danger on the road, especially in downtown Toronto,” says Salo, whose company manufactures bicycle-to-e-bike conversion kits.

And for the city, the trick is to establish a set of bylaws that satisfies both sides.

While provincial laws treat both classes of vehicle equally, Toronto’s bylaws restrict e-bikes to a top speed of 32 km/h and their riders from using their motors in bike lanes and on trails.

In June, the city’s cycling and infrastructure committee will make a presentation to city council on how to adjust the bylaws regarding ebikes and, until May 8, residents can offer suggestions online.

Saturday’s open house at Metro Hall was aimed at those who wanted to register opinions in person.

Organizers said fewer than 100 people showed up at the daylong event, partly because the online response has been strong.

About 300 people had responded to the online survey within its first two hours.