City says e-bikes are creating conflicts on pathways, but it can’t set speed limits

City administrators say e-bikes are creating conflicts on pathways, but they cannot set speed limits.

The city says it can’t set speed limits for electric bikes on Winnipeg pathways despite concerns these faster vehicles are creating conflicts with pedestrians and other cyclists.

It’s a conundrum for which the city’s public works department has been struggling to find a solution – what to do about the rise of electric bikes?

It’s not just e-bikes the city is concerned about. Electric scooters and other e-devices are becoming more common on shared pathways.

“They have also introduced new types of conflicts,” a report from public works reads. “This has increased reports of pedestrians feeling less comfortable.”

While Manitoba’s Highway Traffic Act limits the top speed of e-bikes to 32 km/h, the city noted bikes with higher speeds can still be purchased online.

Right now, the city does not have any speed limits for e-bikes on multi-use or shared pathways. Most of these pathways run alongside a road or highway, where the city said it does not have authority to set separate speed limits for cyclists.

As for the pathways that don’t run along any roads, the city said it could technically set speed limits but it would be hard to enforce fairly and accurately – not to mention all the signage that would be required.

“Other cities are also grappling with how to best manage shared-use paths, and there is no consistent best practice in North America,” the report said.

It noted places like Vancouver, Calgary and San Francisco have all set varying speed limits on multi-use paths, but the enforcement and impact is unclear.

So what is Winnipeg to do?

The public works department has suggested a few different options, like creating an educational campaign to teach e-bike users how to share the path and yield to pedestrians. It also suggested, whenever it’s feasible, to incorporate separate spaces for e-bikes and pedestrians when creating new paths, or make the paths wide enough for everyone.

Another potential option, the report suggested, is getting the province to update the Highway Traffic Act to govern the top speeds of e-bikes. It noted the European Union has capped the top speed of e-bikes to 25 km/h.

The public works committee is set to discuss the issue at its next meeting on Tuesday.