Anchorage Assembly sets rules for e-bikes and e-scooters, allowing most on trails

The Anchorage Assembly unanimously voted Tuesday to officially allow many e-scooters on city trails — with some limitations — and it changed how the city defines and regulates electric-assisted bicycles.

E-bikes, e-scooters, one-wheels and other forms of electric “micromobility” devices are becoming increasingly popular on Anchorage’s trails, yet the technology hasn’t been well-defined or regulated in city and state laws.

The measure aims to clear up ambiguity for cyclists about which e-bikes are legal to ride, and where.

“Currently in code, we don’t have really clear guidelines and definitions — there isn’t really much at all,” Assembly member George Martinez said during an interview before Tuesday’s vote.

Martinez, who sponsored the measure, said the ordinance is a response to the growing demands on Anchorage’s mixed-use trails, especially as new technology brings with it new challenges along with increasing access to trail activities for more people.

“How can we create a real safe environment on our trails and mixed-use pathways, and then also codify in code a starting point for the continued safety improvements and regulatory environment?” Martinez said.

Here’s what changed

Many electric-assisted kick scooters are now legal to ride anywhere a bicycle can be ridden in Anchorage, including the city’s extensive paved multi-use trail system and sidewalks in most areas. These types of electric scooters have two wheels and are ridden from a standing position. The motor must not have a power output of more than 500 watts and capable of speeds only up to 20 miles per hour.

Any e-scooters that have more powerful motors or can go faster than 20 mph are technically classified in city code as a “motor-driven cycle,” and are restricted to use on roads like motorcycles and motor scooters.

By adding the definition in code, it opens up the possibility for e-scooter rentals in Anchorage.

The measure also set out language defining “shared micromobility programs,” which helps pave the way for self-service public rentals of e-bikes and e-scooters. Micromobility programs, such as Lime Scooters and Citi Bike, have rapidly risen in popularity and are used in dozens of U.S. cities.

The ordinance re-defined what the city considers to be an electric-assisted bicycle. E-bikes can also be ridden anywhere a regular bicycle can be.

The measure implemented a three-class system, standard within the industry, and used in most states.

Class 1 and 2 bikes have motors that provide assistance to the rider only until the bike’s speed hits 20 mph. Class 3 bikes provide assistance up to 28 mph. The main difference between Class 1 and Class 2 is the inclusion of a throttle with a Class 2 bike, which can propel the bike while the rider isn’t pedaling.

All three classes have functional pedals, allowing riders to self-propel, and all motors generate no more than 750 watts of power.

Any electric bicycle that has a more powerful motor or is propelled only by a throttle is considered a motor-driven cycle and is restricted to roadways.

Previously, the city split e-bikes into two categories, low speed and high speed. Those were largely based on wattage, with low speed having a wattage of 750 or less.

The city has new definitions for e-bikes, but does Tuesday’s measure change much for people already riding them in Anchorage?

Not really, according to Alexa Dobson, executive director of Bike Anchorage.

But the measure still has some positive impacts, she said.

The local bicycle advocacy group encouraged the city to adopt the three-class regulatory framework.

“It’s in line with the majority of the United States, and it provides a reasonable framework for defining the difference between a bicycle and things that are more like a moped or a motorcycle or a dirt bike,” she said.

It also enables the city to set clear guidelines on where different classes of e-bikes can and can’t be used, and to better tailor those guidelines in the future, she said.

Enforcement challenges and safety concerns

Bike advocates say e-bikes are particularly advantageous for people with mobility issues, or who are aging. Generally, the rules aren’t being abused, they said.

“It’s not young kids down here buying e-bikes to terrorize the trails. It’s folks who are on the latter side of life, basically, and just not as fast and fit as they once were, but still want to go out and enjoy the trails,” said Cary Shiflea, founder of local company Alaska eBike, which rents and sells them.

But some residents in the community have voiced growing concerns about the use and safety of e-bikes on popular city trails, and have pushed for more limitations.

On Tuesday, one woman testifying to the Assembly urged the city to keep Class 3 bikes only on roadways, saying that a tourist riding a rented e-bike lost control and hit her.

“On July 2, I was in a head-on collision with a Class 3 e-bike on the Coastal Trail, and I think it almost took me out. I thought I was going to die in that experience,” she said.

Bike Anchorage and many Assembly members said regulating Class 3 bikes differently would likely force riders into unsafe situations on high-speed roads, where the bikes are incapable of going the speed limit, and disallow them from using bike lanes.

“That sort of situation just isn’t safe for anyone,” Dobson said.

They also said the city needs better data on who is using trails, e-bikes and speeds.

“We can’t responsibly legislate if we don’t know what’s going on with e-bikes in our community right now. So we are calling for more research and more data that can kind of help us support making decisions that we know will have an impact,” Dobson said.

City officials have acknowledged enforcement of bike and speed regulations on trails is difficult if not impossible.

On Tuesday, Chief Sean Case said the Anchorage Police Department currently doesn’t have the capability to check speeds on trails or the wattage of motors.

During a meeting in June, Parks and Recreation Director Mike Braniff told Assembly members that the nature of trail usage is changing.

“The trails are becoming more popular than ever before. We’re seeing higher user numbers, and also speeds are increasing on the trails generally,” Braniff said.

Post-pandemic, “there’s all sorts of new electric vehicles for transportation and recreation that we haven’t seen before,” he said.

Given the challenges with enforcement, Braniff said the city should launch a trail and sidewalk etiquette education campaign. It could also add and improve signs, and widen congested areas of popular trails, such as a stretch along the Coastal Trail near Westchester Lagoon.

The Anchorage Assembly appears poised at its next meeting to pass a resolution directing the city to run such a campaign, and will possibly vote to fund it.