Speeding e-bikes have become a safety concern, but slowing them down on certain sidewalks isn’t an easy fix, as Key West lawmakers learned at the Jan. 7 city commission meeting.
Commissioner Donie Lee initiated a discussion about the electric-powered bikes, saying it was the top complaint and concern that he heard from constituents during his campaign.
The battery-powered bicycles either have pedals and a throttle that enables the bike to move without pedaling, or they have no throttle and require manual pedaling to initiate the motor assistance. Either way, the bikes are not supposed to travel faster than 20 mph, according to Florida law.
“Anything that goes more than 20 mph and has a throttle is not classified as an e-bike; it is an unlicensed motor vehicle, according to state law,” resident Evan Haskell, who owns We Cycle bike shop on Stock Island, told the commissioners.
He added that many so-called e-bikes operating in Key West are unlawful due to their speed and throttle.
He was adding his voice to the growing list of complaints about the proliferation of e-bikes that often operate at unsafe speeds on city sidewalks.
“I see firsthand the dangers they pose to pedestrians along the promenades of North and South Roosevelt boulevards,” Lee said. “I don’t believe that we’ll be able to enforce anything without banning them from sidewalks.”
But therein lies the problem.
City law already prohibits e-bikes on city sidewalks. But the city can’t regulate them on state-owned sidewalks, which include the North and South Roosevelt promenades, Palm Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard. The state has jurisdiction over those roads and sidewalks, meaning the city can’t impose any speed limits or ban the e-bikes there.
“We’re not even allowed to put up any signs warning the e-bikes of a speed limit on the promenades, which are the most heavily used,” Police Chief Sean Brandenburg told the commission on Jan. 7. “The Florida Department of Transportation has told us no to any signs. That’s part of our frustration with enforcement.”
Lee, a former police chief, responded, “So it sounds like there’s no way to enforce our way out of this?”
“Not without help from FDOT,” Brandenburg said, adding that his officers have conducted several education campaigns along the promenades, stopping e-bikes going faster than 20 mph, handing out bells to alert a pedestrian before they pass them from behind, and distributing bike lights and multilingual pamphlets alerting people to the rules.
“I think the majority of e-bike riders are our workers who can’t afford a car, and most speak Spanish or Creole, which makes it difficult to communicate the rules to them,” Brandenburg said.
The chief said he is trying to organize more such education events, although Lee expressed his doubts at their long-term effectiveness.
“I’m all about education, but over the years we’ve done so many bike safety campaigns and it may help for a month, but then goes back to the same problems.”
Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez asked if there were any legislative solutions that could be pursued with the state, as Key West isn’t the only city dealing with the issue.
City Attorney Ron Ramsingh suggested that it would be a good “non-economic ask” for the city to request from state legislators.
A criminal violation can be issued to the bikes that go faster than 20 mph and have a throttle, but local police officers aren’t equipped to be able to distinguish those from legal bikes., especially since so many of the unlawful ones are modified after they are purchased.
“We’re talking in circles here,” commissioner Mary Lou Hoover finally said. “I think the laws have to change at the state level to allow us to do things locally.”
The discussion ended with commissioner Lissette Carey asking the chief to “see the current speed limits for e-bikes to be enforced.”
In other news
The city commission approved the potential issuance of $226 million in bonds, in five different chunks of money, that can be used for police and fire department upgrades, road improvements, sea level rise mitigation, and parks, recreation and cultural facilities.
Any expenditure of bond money will require approval by a supermajority of the commission, which will vote on specific projects individually. No interest will accrue and the city will not have to repay any bond money until it is drawn down and spent on a specific project. The city has 30 years to repay any bond money that is used.
Key West voters approved the issuance of the bonds in a November referendum.
Brian Barroso is city manager
At the start of the meeting, the commission unanimously approved, without discussion, the employment contract for Brian Barroso, who officially started work as city manager the day after the meeting. See page 6 for details about the city’s new top administrator.
