If you’re looking to score big points by giving your child an electric scooter, be aware that California state law requires a driver’s license to operate an e-scooter. This means children younger than 16 cannot legally ride one. More:
Helmets are mandatory for electric scooter riders under the age of 18.
E-scooters cannot be ridden on sidewalks or multi-use trails.
The speed limit for scooters in bike lanes is 15 mph.
Riding tandem, with a buddy, is not allowed.
E-scooter riders must follow all the same rules of the road as drivers.
WhatAbout Getting an E-Bike for My Child?
For now, no law prohibits minors from riding Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes (those with maximum assist speeds of 20 mph). To operate a Class 3 e-bike, which can provide assisted speeds of up to 28 mph, riders must be at least 16 years of age, although a driver’s license is not required. Parents are advised to assess their child’s cycling skills and to consider their levels of experience and maturity before purchasing them an e-bike. More:
Children under the age of 18 are required to wear a bike helmet on any type of bike/e-bike, scooter, skateboard, or roller skates. (Adults are also legally required to wear a helmet on Class 3 bikes.)
In most cases, riding any type of bike on sidewalks (including e-bikes) is less safe than riding in the bike lane. Sidewalk riding is not permitted in most places.
The speed limit on multi-use trails for all bikes is 15 mph.
Parents: Be aware that many Class 2 e-bikes can be easily modified after purchase to go faster than 20 mph, allowing tech-savvy kids to travel at speeds unsafe for their level of experience.
E-bikes are heavier and harder to maneuver than traditional bicycles; it takes longer to stop them at higher speeds.
If you plan to get your child an e-bike or e-scooter, a parent (or experienced adult cyclist) is advised to ride with them to teach and demonstrate the rules of the road and safe riding techniques. If your young rider cannot maintain control, rides unpredictably, or has trouble handling their new wheels in various types of conditions, it may be too soon for them to graduate from their traditional, non-motorized bike or scooter.
According to the California Bicycle Coalition, more than fifteen percent of vehicle trips made in California are less than one mile. Eighty percent are less than ten miles. This makes an e-bike a great choice for replacing car trips. However, the cost of e-bikes are one of the strongest barriers to adoption, according to a recent study by researchers at UC Davis.
The good news is that both nationwide and statewide, programs offering cash incentives to help individuals purchase e-bikes are on the rise. In California alone, there are at least ten such programs.
To see how people’s travel behavior changed after buying an e-bike using an incentive program, UC Davis researchers evaluated survey data from rebate participants in programs across Northern California – including 511 Contra Costa’s program. They discovered between 35 and 50 percent of e-bike trips made by these individuals would have been made by car if an e-bike had not been available.
Rebate recipients also reported an increase in bicycle use. Two months after getting an e-bike, most reported shifting from biking “never” or 1-3 times a month to 1-3 times a week.
As for how getting an e-bike affected their driving habits, most e-bike rebate recipients replaced driving trips with riding e-bikes at least 1–3 times per month. Across the study group, a large share of respondents (82%) reported replacing at least one car trip with an e-bike ride.
The takeaway is that e-bike incentive programs work. And the majority of people who purchase e-bikes change their driving and biking behaviors, which helps reduce both traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
Let us help get you on an e-bike! Our E-Bike Rebate Program, which started three years ago, is still going strong. It offers rebates of $150, $300, and $500 to Contra Costa County residents. You have six months from the date you buy an e-bike to apply, so if you bought an e-bike recently, be sure to apply today!
When you’re headed somewhere and have stuff to carry, it might be second nature to drive instead of ride your bicycle. However, you can carry more with your bike than you might think. In this post, we’ll run through some options to help you transport more by bike, opening up opportunities to ride more and drive less.
When carrying things by bike, it’s generally more efficient to let the frame of the bike take the weight than to carry it on your body. For smaller or lighter loads a lumbar pack or backpack can be useful, but if you’re dealing with heavier or bulkier loads, here are some options:
Bike-mounted Bags: When considering a bag that mounts to your bike frame, seat, or handlebars, think about how quickly you’ll need access to it and how much space you require. Your three options are handlebar bags, seat bags, and frame bags. Handlebar bags are the best option for quick access.
Handlebar, seat, and frame bags
Baskets: Adding a basket to your bike is a lot like adding a trunk, but you can put one on the front or the back. Rear baskets almost exclusively require a rear rack. Being rack-mounted allows rear baskets to carry heavier loads without affecting your bike’s handling. Front baskets are handy, but if you’re carrying more than 15 pounds the weight could bog down the bike’s handling, making a rear basket a better option. If you suspect some of your cargo might bounce around or fly out of your basket, you’ll also want to think about purchasing bungee cords or a bungee net.
Rack-mounted rear basket, small woven front basket, classic front basket
Racks: There are both front and rear racks. With a rear rack, you’re better able to attach panniers or secure crates or cargo to the top of them, which gives them better carrying capacity than front racks. Most rear racks are designed to carry at least 40 pounds. Where rear racks have one basic design, front racks come in a variety of shapes and sizes, allowing you to choose the design that best suits your needs – from a rack that can carry panniers to a platform you can strap cargo to. As for simple commuting, most people prefer a rear rack.
Rear rack and two different front rack designs
Panniers: Panniers are simply bags which mount to the side of a bike rack. They are often sold in pairs and come in a wide range of designs.
Trailers: There are bike trailers to carry just about everything, from pets, to kids, to cargo, and they have a number of advantages:
Compared to what you can easily pack onto a bicycle, a trailer has a much larger carrying capacity. Trailers can often hold up to 100 pounds.
Trailers can make it easier to carry irregularly shaped or bulky items which might be difficult or impossible to strap onto a bicycle.
Trailers are typically waterproof or weatherproof.
If there’s something you want to haul with a trailer (e.g. kayak) there’s a bike trailer out there that can handle it.
If you don’t like your bike looking ‘cluttered’, a trailer helps you avoid having to install any racks. When you’re not using the trailer, you just detach it.
Child carrier, pet trailer, cargo trailer
Cargo Bikes
Why Get a Cargo Bike: Although you can outfit your standard bicycle to replace your car for some trips, if you’re looking to swap out your car for most or all local trips, consider getting a cargo bike – especially if you’re planning on carrying passengers. Momentum Magazine provides a great explanation:
Cargo bikes… enable the transportation of many more pounds of goods than you could possibly carry on a regular bicycle, with much more economic and environmental efficiency than you get from a car. They’re your family vehicle, your work truck, your moving van, your party bus. They’re everything you would need a car for, but much more affordable, much more sustainable, and much more fun.
This isn’t an idle boast. With available accessories like removable child seats, passenger handlebars, cargo bags, and electric assist, a cargo bike can truly become whatever you need it to be. And if your needs change, you can easily adjust the bike’s setup to meet them.
Types of Cargo Bikes
While there are a variety of cargo bike designs, there are essentially three which are popular in the United States – longtails, Bakfiets (aka box bikes), and cargo tricycles.
Longtails have an extra-long wheelbase at the back, which accommodates an extended, built-in deck to carry cargo or children. Longtails typically come with panniers to hold cargo at the sides, have hooks for webbing to secure cargo on top, and have options for handles or backrests to transport children.
Photo courtesy Yuba Bicycles
Photo courtesy Xtracycle
Photo courtesy MADSEN Cycles
Bakfiets (or box bikes) have an extraordinarily long wheelbase at the front and a smaller front wheel, with the cargo area or an attached wooden basket sitting low to the ground between the handlebars and front wheel.
Photo courtesy Cetma Cargo
Cargo Tricycles usually feature an elongated frame with two wheels at the front or back for added stability, with a cargo platform, box, or seat between the two wheels. Although cargo tricycles are slowly gaining popularity in the United States, if you’ve encountered one it’s most likely been in the form of a pedicab.
The beauty of a cargo bike is that you can load it up with people, groceries, and cargo and it can handle it. But you still have to do the pedaling. It’s important that you feel comfortable pedaling your cargo bike no matter how heavily it’s loaded, how far you’re going, or what the terrain is.
If you think you’ll sometimes need a boost while pedaling, electrifying your cargo bike is a simple, cost-effective solution. It’s so popular that most cargo bike companies offer electric pedal assist as a preinstalled option. If you already own a cargo bike, you can retrofit it with an electric pedal assist kit or have a bike shop do it for you.
While the price tag on an electric cargo bike is not low, it still costs dramatically less than owning a car.
Photo courtesy Yuba Bicycles
Rebate for Electric Cargo Bikes
Contra Costa residents who purchase a new electric cargo bike are eligible for a rebate of up to $500 through 511 Contra Costa’s E-Bike Rebate program. Applying for the rebate is quick and easy. Learn more about the program.
Buying a Cargo Bike
If you’re thinking of buying a cargo bike, you’re likely going to do some online research. We can help get you started with Bicycling Magazine’s most recent Best Cargo Bikes review. It features brands like Rad Power Bikes, Tern, Xtracycle, Surly, Yuba, and Benno.
Test Ride Information
When it comes to finding a test ride for a specific brand of cargo bike, be aware that each brand does things a bit differently. Some brands (like Yuba) are sold through bike shops, while others (like Xtracycle and Rad Power Bikes) only offer test rides at their own locations. If you’re having trouble determining where you can find a test ride, visit the bike company’s website and contact customer support.
Tern: At bike shops in Martinez, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, SF, Larkspur, Fremont, and Hayward
If you’ve been considering getting an electric vehicle, bicycle, or scooter, Diablo Valley College (DVC) is the place to be on Monday, October 25.
The DVC Pleasant Hill Campus will be hosting a test drive event, giving attendees the opportunity to test drive new and used EVs, and test ride e-bikes and e-scooters.
The event also offers:
Free food from the DVC Culinary Department for thefirst 100 test drivers.
Information on credits, rebates, grants and loans which help make EVs and e-bikes more affordable.
The opportunity to talk with local EV drivers and e-bike riders.
People looking to test ride bikes and scooters can simply visit the Ridepanda E-bike Showcase and Test Ride Zone to try them out. Attendees interested in driving EVs need to select a 30-minute test drive time slot when registering. Note: Individuals must be 21 or over and have a current drivers license and proof of vaccination to drive an EV.
E-Bike Buyer Bonus: Event attendees will receive a promo code for a $100 credit at Ridepanda.com good toward the purchase of a new e-bike. This offer will be valid for the first 5 Contra Costa residents who use the code before November 8. You can learn more about this bonus offer at the event.
All attendees are asked to register. If you’re planning on taking a test drive, you’ll want to register now and lock in your time slot before they’re all gone.
If you’re considering making the switch to driving electric, Drive Clean Bay Area hosts a series of virtual events to help you find the right electric vehicle for your budget and lifestyle. These events are online, free, and open to the public.
Click any link below to see upcoming events in that series of webinars:
EV 102 – New EV Owner Workshop: Just made the switch to an EV? Long-time EV owners and experts make your transition to driving electric smooth.
If you have questions and can’t make it to one of these Zoom webinars, email Drive Clean Bay Area at info@drivecleanbayarea.org.
E-Bike Rebate: If you purchase an e-bike or have an e-bike conversion kit professionally installed, be sure to apply for a rebate from 511 Contra Costa. Rebates of up to $300 are available while supplies last. Learn more at 511cc.org/rebate.
Last year, 600,000 e-bikes were sold in the United States, which works out to one e-bike sold every 52 seconds. For the majority of buyers, this isn’t about cycling as much as investing in mobility:
“Most of the e-bikes being sold are being used for transportation, not recreation. They are often replacing cars on commutes to work or to the store.”
With a much lower price tag than an electric vehicle (EV), the e-bike is a cost-effective way to go electric, save money, and help improve air quality:
“E-bikes can offer a cheaper alternative to car travel… [and] can be useful tools for reducing CO2 emissions, urban noise, and inner city traffic. Lastly, e-bikes encourage users to cycle farther and more often than conventional bicycles.”
If you’re interested in buying an e-bike, 511 Contra Costa wants to help. We’re currently offering cash rebates of up to $300 on the purchase of a new e-bike. What brand of e-bike you buy and where you buy it is up to you, just be sure to save the receipt so you can apply for your rebate.
In October, Governor Brown signed legislation into law which clarifies how electric bicycles (e-bikes) should be operated in the state of California.
The law, which takes effect January 1, creates three classes of e-bikes. Class 1 consists of pedal-assist e-bikes while Class 2 consists of e-bikes with throttles. Both classes are limited to motor-assisted speeds of 20 miles per hour and will be allowed to use the same lanes, paths & roadways as traditional (non-electric) bicycles.
Class 3 consists of pedal-assist bikes which can reach assisted speeds of up to 28 miles per hour. This class is restricted to roadways and bike lanes on roadways – they are not permitted on bike paths. Helmets for Class 3 e-bikes are mandatory and riders must be at least 16 years old to use them.
The new law is designed to ensure that e-bikes are treated like traditional bicycles instead of mopeds. As with traditional bicycles, no one riding an e-bike from any of the three classes will be required to have a driver’s license or license plate for their bicycle.
Visit the People for Bikes blog for more on this story.
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