The City of Fairfield is moving toward developing an ordinance that would regulate the use of electric bikes on public sidewalks and trails, City Administrator Doug Reinert announced at Monday’s city council meeting on June 8th.
Under current Iowa law, bicycles — including e-bikes — are legal on city sidewalks. However, Reinert said the city is beginning the review and drafting of an ordinance that would prohibit e-bike use on sidewalks and potentially restrict certain classifications of e-bikes from the city’s trail system as well.
E-bikes are classified by speed capability and whether they require pedaling to operate. Reinert said the higher-speed classifications in particular pose a significant safety risk. “The pedestrian e-bike interface can be very tragic, especially when they’re moving about 30 miles per hour hitting somebody just walking or running — they don’t make a lot of noise,” he said. A collision between an e-bike and a vehicle is also a concern he flagged. “That could also not go well,” he said.
The city already prohibits bicycles on downtown sidewalks, but Reinert said a broader ordinance is needed to address the growing presence of e-bikes throughout the rest of the city. He noted that the issue has been building for some time. “We’ve had discussions about e-bikes over the last several months and weeks,” he said. “Now that it’s summertime and we’ve got kids out doing stuff, we want to make sure that everybody’s safe.”
City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson noted that Class 3 e-bikes, which can reach speeds of around 28 miles per hour, already require a driver’s license to operate under Iowa law. She also pointed out that not all e-bikes are easy to distinguish from one another. “I saw three kids just between the work session and the council meeting and I couldn’t tell you what level they were,” she said. “They all look the same to me.”
Councilwoman Terri Kness noted that the issue extends beyond young riders. “As many kids as there are that are riding them, I feel like there’s more adults that don’t have driver’s licenses that are using them as their means to get around town,” she said.
Carlson also said she has the support of the Fairfield Trails Council co-chairs for banning the highest-speed e-bikes from the trail system, as long as lower-speed pedal-assist bikes would still be permitted. The city is also waiting to hear from the local bike shop about what classifications of e-bikes are most commonly sold in the community before finalizing the proposal.
The discussion also briefly touched on scooters, which are an entirely separate class of vehicle. Unlike e-bikes, scooters are street-licensed and registered, meaning they are already prohibited from sidewalks and trails under existing law.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Estey raised the question of whether age restrictions should be part of the ordinance as well, noting that very young riders on high-speed e-bikes have become a growing concern in other communities across the country.
“We can’t stop everything, but we can definitely bring some of this to light and give the police department something that they can have a conversation with those users,” Reinert said.
A formal ordinance proposal is expected to come before the city council at a future meeting.
