Walk That E-Bike

Regarding dangerous biking on the State Street pedestrian areas, as an e-bike and e-trike rider myself, I am so sad that the e-bike speeders are ruining the lovely mixed-use situation for all bikers.

I propose that a regulation be made that all e-bikes (except those used by handicapped persons) must be walked through the auto-free zones or risk getting citations or confiscations of their bikes. This would entail serious signage and zig-zag railings at the entrance of each block so that an e-biker must get off the bike to even enter the block. And it would entail actual human patrols on the blocks to ensure compliance — whether police or some other official patrol authorized to write citations and confiscate bikes.

I’m defining this as e-bike regulation, not for all bicycles: humanoid pedaled bikes would still be allowed to ride in these zones because they rarely if ever speed in such areas.

Possibly, after a few weeks of strict enforcement, the speeders will give up on their joy-riding State Street, and then the patrols can be lightened. I hope this idea can enter the discussion of the “Living Experiment” to “see what stuff works.”