A Look Inside the Electric Bike Craze in Santa Barbara

In Santa Barbara, electric bikes are impossible to miss. Buzzing around downtown, zipping up State Street, there are commuters on their way to and from work, teens riding in twos, and tourists on the popular white BCycle rentals for daily rides. 

To the riders themselves, e-bikes offer a departure from daily car use, making urban commutes more efficient and providing versatile transportation that can be charged at home. But to pedestrians, motor-vehicle drivers, city planners, or people tired of dodging the daredevil teenagers swerving around, the popularity and prevalence of these e-bikes pose new challenges that need to be addressed before it’s too late.

In other California cities, the same e-bikes — often made by companies such as Rad Power Bikes or Aventon — have taken hold with junior high– and high school–age students, but as laws surrounding e-bikes lag behind their popularity, the debate arises over what local governments could do, and whether they should step in to create stricter guidelines for e-bike use.