City changes rules on what you can ride on the Hub Trail

Almost a half-dozen years after Sault Ste. Marie banned electric bicycles on the Hub Trail, city council agreed this week to make an exception for power-assisted bicycles.

"Power-assisted bicycles are not the same as E-bikes," says Jeffrey King from the city's legal department.

"Power-assisted bicycles have the same appearance as a non-electric-assisted bicycle and the only means of using the electric charge is by way of pedalling, which means it is without a bar-mounted throttle," King said in a report to Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and city council.

The change approved this week encourages sustainable transportation solutions by reducing carbon emissions and promoting active transportation, King said.

The change also permits rickshaw bikes, which enable a bicycle operator to carry one or more persons in front of them, also employing power-assisted bicycle technology.

Both kinds of power-assisted bikes will be required to adhere to the Hub Trail's 20 km/hr speed limit.

The change is made possible by technological advancement, development of the city's active transportation master plan and "a need to ease use by riders with accessible needs," King said.

Here are the new definitions for electric bikes and power-assisted bikes as approved this week:

'Electric bicycle' or 'E-bike' means a vehicle that has the appearance of a motorcycle, with a saddle designed to be straddled and a footrest, pedals or pegs where the rider’s feet may remain secure, and is capable of being propelled on level ground by a throttle or any means other than muscular power.

'Power-assisted bicycle' means a pedal-driven bicycle of conventional exposed fork-and-frame bicycle design and appearance that does not resemble an E-bike as defined herein, a motor scooter, or motorcycle and that:

• has two or three wheels
• is fitted at all times with pedals that are always operable to propel the bicycle
• is capable at all times of being propelled on level ground solely by using muscular power to operate the pedals
• has steering handlebars
• has wheels that have a width of not less than 35 millimetres and a diameter of not less than 350 millimetres
• has one or more electric motors that, singly or in combination, have a continuous rated output power not exceeding 500 watts and that is incapable of providing propulsion assistance when the bicycle attains a speed of 32 kilometres per hour or more, and
• weighs not more than 55 kilograms, and may have one or more riders if equipped to properly transport them