Electric bikes have the potential to radically transform American transportation culture in a very positive way. Despite this, and in contrast to how our society and systems treat electric cars, it often feels like e-bikes can’t catch a break.
A few examples: We have vast federal and state purchase incentives programs for e-cars, but none for e-bikes. We limit the speed of e-bikes, while e-cars — even though their potential for harm is much greater — are gleefully sold with “insane mode” acceleration and absurdly high speeds.
And in the past few weeks I’ve been contacted by two readers with stories about how the system is working against them when it comes to choosing to ride an e-bike. One of them was told they cannot park their e-bike at work; the other watched as a TriMet transit officer booted two e-bike riders off a MAX train because the bikes weren’t on designated bike hooks.
I looked into both situations and here’s what I found out.
Last week a reader messaged BikePortland on Instagram:
“This morning on the MAX going out to Hillsboro some TriMet guy got on to check tickets. On his way out he told two guys with e-bikes they weren’t allowed to have them on the train because they couldn’t hang them!? I was shook.
Just felt ridiculous TriMet would deny someone bring their bike on board because their tires were “too big” it’s not even prohibited on their website, which that guy said it was. I’ve never seen anyone kicked off the MAX for having an e-bike! It wasn’t that packed at all.”
This was very disappointing to hear because the combination of e-bikes and light rail is a powerful tool that can expand non-driving possibilities for many folks in our region. I reached out to TriMet to learn more.
According to TriMet Public Information Officer Tyler Graf, e-bikes with sealed battery compartments are allowed on MAX trains. What if someone can’t lift their e-bike onto a hook? Graf said hanging bikes on hooks is the preferred option. “However, we know e-bikes can be heavy, and it may be difficult or dangerous to lift them up and down,” he said. “Riders are allowed to stand with their bikes, but they should not block doors or aisles,” Graf clarified.
In short, your bike should never create an accessibility problem for other riders. TriMet’s rules for riding state, “If you have a bag or bike, make sure it’s not blocking the aisle or doorway.” And Graf added that people should be mindful of these rules because TriMet’s recent enforcement increase includes bicycles on trains as, “an area of extra focus.”
As for the specific case of telling two e-bike riders to disembark, Graf said these “Customer Safety Supervisors” are taking an education-first approach whenever possible. He also shared that the size and type of someone’s bike also comes into play in how enforcement decisions are made: “Bikes with oversized wheels, trailers or internal combustion engines are not allowed at all. Not only is it impossible to hang these types of vehicles from the bike hooks, they pose a danger if the train has to stop suddenly and they’re thrown forward.”
(On a related note, TriMet’s administrative rules state, “Only conventional single seat, two-wheeled bicycles, folding bicycles, and recumbent and electric bicycles the size of a standard bicycle” are allowed on their vehicles. “Bicycles with oversized wheels, tandems, three or more wheels, trailers, or internal combustion engine-powered bicycles are not allowed.”)
To summarize: Try to store your bike on a hook. If you can’t do that, make sure you and your bike have a small footprint and allow easy access to priority seating areas. I met a man on MAX a few days ago with a 20-inch wheeled, folding, fat tire e-bike (above). He carried his own bungee cord to strap the wheel to the hook and folded the handlebars in to keep them from snagging other riders near the door. He knows that if people are impeded or have to step over a bike for any reason, a rider could be asked to leave the train. See TriMet’s Bikes on MAX website and their administrative rules for “Transport of Bicycles on District Transit System (August 2022)” for more information.
The second example comes from a reader who works at the downtown Marriot hotel. They were told e-bikes were not allowed on the property. “Now I can’t use my electric bike to commute to work and would appreciate any suggestions/solutions to this dilemma,” they wrote to BikePortland.
I first reached out to the Portland Fire Bureau. Senior Fire Inspector/Lieutenant Wendy Stanley told me, “The Fire Marshal’s Office has no stance or prohibition on storing and charging e-bikes inside of buildings. Such a prohibition, if created, would be at the discretion of the property owner/management company.”
Lt. Stanley was right. A few days later I heard from the Marriott employee. They since heard from management that the “no e-bikes” order came from Marriott’s own fire inspector who has banned electric bikes and scooters from the hotel property.
“That’s a lot of properties limiting electric transportation,” our reader shared. “I know Tesla has chargers onsite at many properties so apparently the ban doesn’t apply to electric vehicles.”
Hopefully as e-bikes continue their march toward normalization in American society, the rules that apply to them will change. In a truly just society e-bike rules wouldn’t be on par with e-cars, they would be much more favorable and would do everything possible to encourage their use.
Thanks for reading.
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Just like using public trails barred to vehicle access – it’s less about what you have and more about what you do.
I regularly see e-bikes on MAX where the rider does everything possilbe to minimize the impact on the rest of the riders.
I regularly see people with regular bikes block doors & aisles.
Despite the overly broad nature of the TriMet administrative rule, I have never had an issue with my trike – because I’ve rigged a hanger on the boom that can hang on the hook or the crossbar (if the hook is too low).
In fact, hanging it has less of a footprint than my standard DF road-bike does 🙂
I also only use cropped mudguards on the back so I can easily move them into an upright position on the back wheel and take up less room boarding/deboarding.
Many office buildings downtown have a large excess of bike parking right now due to work-from-home. The Marriott employee could negotiate access to those largely empty bike storage spaces. The office building I work in downtown could probably fit 100+ bikes, but there’s less than 20 in there.
It would be great if someone made an app to facilitate this type of activity, but I suspect there is not enough profit in it.
I think we can see potential for e-bikes and make arguments about why they should be supported, but I’m not sure why the rules and treatment of e-cars should be the appropriate analogy. For subsidies and public investment, sure. But if e-bike batteries catch fire at greater rates than Teslas (and I don’t know if that’s true or not, just anecdotally), then it’s really irrelevant whether or not a building allows car charging but not e-bike parking/charging. Broader picture, obviously, I get it: being able to park your preferred vehicle at work makes you more able to use that vehicle, so let’s try to figure out whether or not there is a specific parking/storage problem related to e-bikes and solve it. Not make spurious comparisons to Teslas.
Likewise it’s interesting to compare the challenge of incorporating e-cars into roads and e-bikes into bike lanes. My initial sense is that e-cars are just not as different from gas-powered cars in terms of speed, size etc so they’ve been easier to integrate. I have huge safety concerns about the size and weight of these massive e-SUVs with their giant batteries, but those aren’t as obvious to fellow commuters. Whereas e-bikes are noticeably different from bikes in a bike lane where speed differentials, size and weight stand out noticeably. I’m sure others have opinions that they will share about their different perceptions!!