I'm watching this whole e-bike bylaw discussion by Council with interest.
The debate at Committee of the Whole last night was whether e-bikes should be allowed on sidewalks. No they shouldn't; just as standard bikes aren't allowed on sidewalks (a bylaw that needs more enforcement, in my opinion).
I don't own an e-bike but I like the concept. I recently visited Green Street at George and Sherbrooke. They retail e-bikes and accessories. They're nice people who have a great business model. I hope they do well, and I hope they don't get strangled by bylaws or lack of planning.
Agreed: e-bikes shouldn't be allowed on sidewalks. Agreed: they should be allowed on the Rotary Trail. (I also agree that the e-bikes shouldn't be modified to increase their speed capacity - but that's a different issue.) I do worry though that I haven't read or heard anything about adjusting our city infrastrucure to allow for more bike lanes. I know; that's going to take a whack of money. But if bikes (standard or powered) aren't allowed on sidewalks, we better start thinking about spending money on making allowances for them on city streets. As they are now, especially downtown routes with on-street parking, city roads are not bike-friendly.