Riverside council sends proposed e-bike ordinance, including ban in city parks, back to committee
A Police Department proposal to regulate e-bikes, scooters and electric motorcycles was continued Sept. 15 and then referred Sept. 22 to the Safety, Wellness, and Youth Committee without being introduced.
The Riverside City Council on Sept. 22 did not introduce a proposed ordinance regulating electric bikes and similar devices and instead referred it to the council's Safety, Wellness, and Youth Committee.
Councilmember Mill made the motion and Councilmember Conder seconded it. It passed unanimously; Councilmember Falcone was absent, according to minutes prepared by the city clerk. Five members of the public spoke.
The ordinance first came to the council Sept. 15, when two people spoke and the council voted unanimously to continue it one week, the minutes of that meeting show.
Both sets of minutes are drafts. They were attached to the council's Oct. 6 agenda and had not yet been approved.
The ordinance has not been adopted and is not in effect.
What the draft would do
The Police Department proposed adding a new chapter on what it calls e-conveyances to the municipal code. The draft defines the term to include electric bicycles, motorized scooters and electrically motorized boards and skateboards.
As written in the draft attached to the Sept. 22 agenda, the ordinance would:
- prohibit riding e-conveyances in all city parks
- prohibit electric bicycles on city trails, including the Santa Ana River Trail within the city
- prohibit electric bicycles on sidewalks, except at driveways, on designated bikeways or to avoid a hazard
- require e-conveyances to be walked through parking lots of city-owned property
- prohibit off-highway electric motorcycles in any public area
The draft also lists examples of unsafe riding, among them riding against traffic, racing or stunts, carrying passengers on a device not built for them, and riders under 18 going without a fastened helmet.
Violations would fall under the penalty provisions found in municipal code Chapters 1.01 and 1.17.
When a minor commits a violation, a parent or guardian could be held responsible for it and for any fines, the draft says.
The draft allows the Police Department to set up a program for juvenile offenders that puts education, parental notification and a safety course ahead of fines, except in cases involving injury, damage, reckless riding or a substantial risk to public safety.
Police, first responders and city employees on duty would be exempt. So would disabled people who use electric personal mobility devices.
The department's reasons
A staff report from the Police Department says there have been more than 200 documented complaints about unsafe riding of e-conveyances in Riverside since Jan. 1, 2026.
The complaints often concern riding in or close to public parks, and most involve juveniles, the report says.
The state Vehicle Code governs use on public roads, but the report says it does not always address parks, trails, playgrounds and open space, which is the gap the ordinance is meant to fill.
The department has an education campaign on its website and social media and through community presentations, according to the report. It lists no fiscal impact.
The records reviewed do not show when the committee will take up the ordinance.