There has been a lot of debate around pedal-assist e-bikes over the past decade or so.
Are e-bikes a form of motorized transportation or just a pedal bike with an electric motor to make the effort a little easier?
Many wondered where and when to allow people to use e-bikes and whether it’s appropriate for e-bikers to use the same trails and paths as regular pedal bikers.
The most important distinction for trail managers is between non-throttled e-bikes, with electronic assist cutting out at 32 km/h, and throttled e-bikes with 500 watts of output that can travel more than 32 km/h.
Like it or not, the e-bike market has experienced massive growth. According to a study by Canadian consulting firm Precedence Research, the global e-bike market hit nearly US$18 billion in 2021 and will be worth more than US$40 billion by 2030.
In other words, e-bikes are here to stay, so trail use policy needs to adapt.
E-Bike Friendly Alberta Parks?
Following a two-year pilot project, Alberta Parks recently announced that e-bikes will now be allowed on all trails in provincial parks, provincial recreation areas, and wildland provincial parks where cycling is already permitted. This includes trails at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
The province conducted the pilot project from 2019 to 2021 on trails in Kananaskis Country to assess safety concerns and feedback from more than 1200 survey respondents.
According to the pilot project results, most current e-bike use aligns with class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes (defined as non-throttled electric-powered bicycles with a maximum speed of 32 km/h.)
Chris Fast, manager of Canmore’s Bicycle Café, welcomes the policy decision.
“It’s also only being limited to trails where cycling already exists, so it’s not like you’re going to be ripping up Ha Ling on an e-bike or anything like that and bumping hikers out of the way,” Fast told Rocky Mountain Outlook.” For the average user, I don’t think they’re going to notice much change out there.”
Fast says he hopes to see more enforcement to keep throttled e-bikes off recreational trails.
“The wrong e-bikes can cause a lot of trouble, both in optics for the general public, as well as actual trail interactions,” said Fast, adding that he’s heard of numerous incidents on the Legacy Trail and some serious injuries involving throttled e-bikes.
The Banff Legacy Trail is a 29 km paved pathway from the Bow Valley Corridor to Banff National Park’s east gate.
Laura Quelch, executive director of the Canmore & Area Mountain Biking Association, said the association also welcomes the change.
Pedal-assist e-bikers have been using Canmore’s mountain biking trails for years mostly without conflict.
“There will be an adjustment period locally, but e-bikes have been allowed on many trail networks in other jurisdictions throughout Canada and around the globe for quite some time and with success,” she said in an email to the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
Banff Park already has a similar policy, banning throttled e-bikes but allowing pedal-assist e-bikes on designated trails in the Banff and Lake Louise areas.
Cycling communities in places like the European Alps have fully embraced pedal-assist e-bikes, and increasingly, Canada is following this path.
The stigma of e-biking is fading, and there’s no longer any shame in using a little e-power, whether on dirt trails or paved pathways.
All cycling trail etiquette still applies, so be careful out there and share the space with other users.
