All e-bikes are legal in Albuquerque, but not on all trails

E-bikers can soon cruise easy on Albuquerque trails. The City Council approved an ordinance in an 8-1 vote that makes it legal for the electric-powered alternative to a regular bike to take to the city’s multi-use trails.

Debate over the ordinance took up the longest stretch of a seven-and-a-half-hour council meeting on Monday, with impassioned comments from e-bikers, analog cyclists, hikers and equestrians.

E-bikes were already road legal, but in 2023 the state banned two of three e-bike classes from multi-use trails. Municipalities are allowed to make their own rules around e-bikes on trails.

Councilor Brook Bassan led the race to allow e-bikes in more places in Albuquerque.

“These are not the big bad, deadly, terrible things that people are buying so they can go out and race, and harm people and disrespect nature,” Bassan said. “They’re using these because it’s the new bicycle, for all of the reasons we heard tonight.

“My family does use them. So sure, for those of you that think there’s personal gain, yeah, there is. We ride e-bikes, we have analog bikes and also, we have an electric motorcycle, which is not included in this legislation. It is actively prohibited in this legislation because electric motorcycles have a higher weight; they have more horsepower; they are definitely going to be destructive to our trails.”

Bassan said she also supports widening and improving trails, but that will take funding.

The ordinance allows all three classes of e-bike on multi-use trails, sets a blanket 20 mph speed limit, and gives the Parks and Recreation Department power to set further regulations, such as lower speed limits or banning all bikes from trails where the department deems the use unsafe.

The department would likely use that power to institute lower speed limits in congested areas like trail heads or unpaved trails, Parks and Recreation Director Dave Simon told the council.

The ordinance will make it legal to do what some people are already doing: riding Class 2 or Class 3 e-bikes on trails around the city. Class 1 e-bikes were already allowed.

But some unpaved trails will remain closed to e-bikes because they fall under the jurisdiction of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District or the U.S. Forest Service, both of which have banned all three classes of e-bikes for the time being on land they manage. Many of the unpaved trails in the bosque surrounding the Rio Grande are on MRGCD land, while some of the unpaved trails in the Sandia foothills are part of Forest Service land.

Critics came with a petition that had over 400 signatures opposing the ordinance’s passage and asking the council to hold a hearing for more public dialogue before the law was passed. Members of the public voiced concerns about the weight of e-bikes and the danger that could pose in a crash, as well as trail wear and tear.

“As equestrian riders, we must be safe in our open space trails. ... There must be non-motorized designated trails in the system,” said Maresa Luzier, who was representing the Pecos Chapter of the Back Country Horseman of New Mexico.

Proponents asked the council to pass the ordinance, arguing that e-bikers are usually not speedy or risk-taking, but instead likely to be older and looking for an easier way to enjoy biking as their ability or fitness level changes.

“It’s opened up a whole new world for people that say, ‘Well, I want to go out and exercise. I want to be able to ride my bike, and now I can.’ And they have different levels, too. So you can put it on, you can turn it off,” Duane Kinsley, owner of Sports Systems, which sells e-bikes, among other athletic gear, told the Journal. His store will be offering free bike etiquette classes, which he thinks will help prevent conflicts on trails.

Biking advocacy group Bike ABQ had a different concern: the 20 mph speed limit. Experienced cyclists on traditional bikes can pass 20 mph, said Patrick Martin, advocacy chair for Bike ABQ.

“Certainly in the areas where there are high amounts of congestion, around Tingley Beach and on the bosque trails as an example, having a speed limit there probably makes sense. ... But in other areas, there are paved trails that are much more suburban that will never be congested that are still an important route for people to get where they’re trying to go,” Martin said.

Simon of Parks and Rec told the council that 20 mph is a national standard for multi-use trails.