Maryland passes 3-Class ebike law

[Dewey]

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&stab=03&id=HB0939&tab=subject3&ys=2019rs

Good, Virginia next year, then hopefully the District of Columbia (not holding breath)

 

[Dewey]

What was the previous law in Maryland?
Class 2 only?

Don’t recall they said anything about a throttle but the power/speed limits were 500w/20mph so this represents a welcome alignment with the national 750w power standard. Also previously ebikes were banned from sidewalks and street bicycle infrastructure across the state except where individual localities approved like in Montgomery County, but from October 1, 2019 the situation is reversed which is a big improvement for safety, particularly on the wide 45mph arterial roads in suburban MD that might have a sidewalk and maybe a painted bike lane but you wouldn’t want to ride on the street with trucks doing 10 over the speed limit, while enabling local ebike trail bans to continue like the capital crescent trail and NPS trail ban

 

[WilliamT]

I still see ebikes on Capital Crescent but mostly older folks riding under 10 mph. I see ebike shares parked on the side of the CCT. If there is a ban, its certainly not being enforced.

The National Park Service for Virginia already changes it ruling to allow ebikes on all their trails as of last month.

 

[Dewey]

If there is a ban, its certainly not being enforced.

The National Park Service for Virginia already changes it ruling to allow ebikes on all their trails as of last month.

The CCT bans ebikes as loudly proclaimed last year by Paul Basken in the Washington Post, but in reality isn’t being enforced, so does NPS and Arlington County in Virginia, and DC. You may be thinking of the vote last month for NOVA Parks to lift their ebike trail ban on the W&OD. NPS and the District of Columbia are key for commuters as they control the Potomac bridge approaches and side paths. I was told yesterday Arlington may lift it’s ban later this fall. Once all neighboring jurisdictions lift their trail bans it ought to lend weight to ebike advocacy efforts with DC city govt. Getting NPS to change will be hardest.

Update Feb 2020: It turned out NPS was in fact the easiest to fix as the Sec of the Interior's order lifting the ebike trail ban last fall has been implemented in most NPS Park Superintendent's Compendium of Regulations. Also Arlington County, VA, lifted its ebike path/trail ban. The section of the Capital Crescent Trail in the C&O Canal National Historic Park that parallels the canal towpath the first 3 miles from Georgetown, DC, to Fletcher's Boat House is now open to ebikes. From that point, for the present, e-bike bans remain in place on the CCT trail where it crosses over the C&O canal heading North into Palisades, DC, & Montgomery County, MD.

 

[Govind]

So I was riding the Catonsville Trolley Trail off Oella today and was accosted by an angry motorist at the intersection near the Breadery, who yelled and said ebikes were not allowed on trials. I said they were, but he insisted they were not. Downloaded the latest House Bill 939 and sure enough, it has a clause that states that local jurisdictions can do what they want. However, there are no posted signs forbidding ebikes, so I am a bit confused. I ride a Class 2 Rad City and commute between Ellicott City and UMBC.
Anybody have info?

 

[J.R.]

So I was riding the Catonsville Trolley Trail off Oella today and was accosted by an angry motorist at the intersection near the Breadery, who yelled and said ebikes were not allowed on trials. I said they were, but he insisted they were not. Downloaded the latest House Bill 939 and sure enough, it has a clause that states that local jurisdictions can do what they want. However, there are no posted signs forbidding ebikes, so I am a bit confused. I ride a Class 2 Rad City and commute between Ellicott City and UMBC.
Anybody have info?

It's a particularly confusing time in Maryland as it relates to ebikes. I don't live in MD, but I have ridden in the state and I have a good friend who's a state park manager. The state has always had restrictive ebike laws, the new 3 class law had gone a long way in fixing the regulations. The thing to remember is the 3 class law doesn't effect any "off road" path or trail. Since most towns in Maryland are unincorporated, the county is likely the government entity in control of access to the county parks department trails, but as I recall the Catonsville Rail Trail Authority is a private nonprofit corporation. They can be more complicated, we have them in PA too. Usually a public-private partnership, but they often retain authority over regulations.

 

[Bike_On]

It's a particularly confusing time in Maryland as it relates to ebikes. I don't live in MD, but I have ridden in the state and I have a good friend who's a state park manager. The state has always had restrictive ebike laws, the new 3 class law had gone a long way in fixing the regulations. The thing to remember is the 3 class law doesn't effect any "off road" path or trail. Since most towns in Maryland are unincorporated, the county is likely the government entity in control of access to the county parks department trails, but as I recall the Catonsville Rail Trail Authority is a private nonprofit corporation. They can be more complicated, we have them in PA too. Usually a public-private partnership, but they often retain authority over regulations.

I ride in MD from Laurel to BWI. I just saw the new law this week, with the new classes 1-3 and the bump in power to 750W.

Access is still limited by local laws. The best thing you can do is go to your city councils and county parks n Recr, show them the new laws and ask that they be friendly to ebikes.