850 miles of East Bay trails open to e-bikes
Electric-bike riders now have 850 new miles of trails to explore in the East Bay hills.
Last week, the board of the East Bay Regional Park District voted unanimously to permit Class I ebikes on all the trails and fire roads where conventional bicycles are allowed within the district’s 125,000 acres of parklands, an area that spans Contra Costa and Alameda counties. That amounts to a majority of the district’s 1,330 miles of trails.
The board also approved Class II e-bikes on paved trails.
Both Class I and Class II e-bikes are battery-powered, pedal-assist vehicles capable of traveling at about 20 mph, but Class IIs also have hand throttles and don’t require pedaling to accelerate. (There are also Class III e-bikes, capable of hitting 28 mph; they are not allowed in the district’s parklands.)
District trails program manager Sean Dougan called the proposal to expand e-bike access “a common-sense ordinance change” that aligns the district with other Bay Area parks agencies and openspace districts where ebikes have become more commonly accepted.
“E-bike usage has become so common in the park district and on our paved trails. It’s happening right now, it’s there every day, and it’s growing,” Dougan said at last week’s board meeting.
A 2017 state law allows e-bikes on trails unless land managers specifically prohibit them. Despite their prevalence, the battery-boosted vehicles remain a lightning rod for debate among cyclists and trail users.
They’re allowed at California State Parks and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, but county parks and open-space districts across the Bay Area have different rules and restrictions. For example, they’re allowed by Marin County Parks and the Marin County Open Space District, but last year the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District board voted down a proposal that would have opened 160 miles of Peninsula trails to e-bikes.
Opponents say e-bikes are faster and heavier than conventional bicycles and therefore are more likely to cause problems on trails where people are hiking, jogging or horseback riding. They worry about more crashes, worse injuries for people involved in accidents, and more wear and tear in natural areas.
However, since allowing Class I and II e-bikes on several trails beginning in 2017 as part of a pilot program, the East Bay park district hasn’t found them to cause more issues, Dougan said.
“There is no data that shows that e-bikes are more or less (problematic) than conventional bicycles,” he said. “Reckless behavior is associated with individuals, not whole user classes or groups.”
Of 283 bicycle-related incidents — a catch-all term for crashes, citations and other issues — reported within the district this year, 33 involved e-bikes, according to district Police Capt. Terrence Joseph Cotcher.
Advocates say the vehicles offer equitable outdoor access for elderly and disabled people.
“At the end of the day, (those users) are not the types of riders who are going to be riding fast and recklessly. They’re just trying to get out into nature, and a little help from bikes makes that easier,” cyclist Joel Schrock told board members at the meeting. He is founder of the Facebook group Bay Area Mountain Biking, which has about 13,000 members.
Still, several East Bay residents reiterated concerns about e-bikes being dangerous or disruptive.
“I personally seek out trails that are only for hikers and horses, and they’re hard to find,” said Oakland resident Judy Schwartz. “It’s hard to find a quiet, peaceful trail.”