Background: Ebikes are bicycles with small electric assist motors of 750W or less.  An ebike is not an electric motorcycle.  Due to the fact that an ebike is a bicycle with a limited electric assist, it behaves like other bicycles.  Ebikes help get older folks and anyone with limited mobility outside and riding.  There is no evidence that ebikes present a greater danger to trail users than other bicycles, nor is there evidence that ebikes cause additional damage to the trails themselves.

The problem: The Helena City Commission banned ebikes on public trails. This ban is inappropriate as it harms the rights and health of the community.  

Montana law (61-8-102) says that ebikes are bicycles.  Montana law is very specific in saying that ebikes are not "motorized vehicles".  While reasonable people understand that technically an ebike has a motor, they also understand that 1)the motor is very small and 2)it is mounted to a bicycle.  Because of these facts an ebike practically and legally fits into the category of "bicycle".  This doesn't mean that a cyclist has to like ebikes-- opinions are a personal matter.  It does mean that, for legal purposes, ebikes are not motorized vehicles.  

Who does the ebike ban harm?  Mostly older people and people with mobility issues.  The over 50 crowd is the largest buyer of ebikes.  Any and all trail users with an ebike are harmed by this ban. 

Ebike users have reduced opportunity for physical exercise, which is a harm.  It is offensive that these taxpayers are asked to pay for the trails, but then banned from using their ebikes on them.  

Such a ban could be understandable if there were strong evidence that ebikes pose a safety threat, but no such evidence has been offered.  In fact, the Helena City Commission admits it has no such evidence and admits that ebikes are not motorized vehicles.  

Because the Helena City Commission has offered no evidence of public harm, the ebike ban is inappropriate.  Because ebikes behave in a fundamentally similar way as other bicycles, it is unfair to deny access where bicycles are normally allowed.  

The solution: Lift the ebike ban.  

An evidence-based approach should be used to answer the question of ebikes on public trails.  Let's apply common sense.  

Not everyone is going to like meeting dogs, horses, cyclists or hikers on our trails.  We need to be willing to tolerate a form of use that we don't like in order to maximize public benefit from public trails.  Wreckless individual behavior should not be confused with an entire category of trail use.  Tolerance is the best way forward for all trail users.