The next meeting of BikeWalkSolana, the Solana Beach Active Transportation Committee, will be held on Monday August 1, 2022, 5pm  on Zoom. For an invitation please email [email protected]

Agenda:

• Updates from the City
• e-bike safety
• Smart Cycling Classes
• Tuesday, 2 Aug 2022 6PM-9PM
  Session I – Virtual
  This virtual classroom session covers bicycling and the law, crashes and how to avoid them, as well as how to drive your bike safely in a variety of road, traffic, and weather conditions day or night. League Certified Instructors have extensive commuting, touring, group and club riding experience. All levels of experience will benefit from this program.
• Saturday, 6 Aug 2022 9AM – 3PM
  Session II – Solana Beach
  This is the second session of our Smart Cycling Course. You must complete session I (above) in order to register and participate in session II.
• Love To Ride Cycle September 2022
  
  Ride with your workplace, ride solo or ride for the first time – however you roll, let’s show the world that life is better when it’s pedal-powered!
  You’re invited to join BikeWalkSolana on Love to Ride.
• NCTD Transit Survey
  Circulate San Diego is working with North County Transit District (NCTD) to conduct a survey to evaluate existing NCTD service and improve it for the future. Help us and others around North County benefit from an improved transit service!
• New Business

Meeting Notes by Jill Cooper

Those present included BWS President Douglas Alden, Kristin Brinner, Jill Cooper, Paul Dickstein, City Councilmember Jewel Edson, City Engineer Dan Goldberg, Haley Johnson, Assistant City Manager Dan King, Jon Luft, Shawna McGarry, Karl Rudnick, and Senior Engineer Mo Sammak. 

Members of BikeWalkSolana, Solana Beach City Staff members, and citizens agreed that there is a perception in our community that some young e-bike users do not ride their bikes safely or obey the rules of the road. Many parents would like their e-bike riding children to take classes so that they learn how to ride safely in traffic and obey traffic laws.  We have noted the marked increase of young people using their e-bikes to commute to  school and a growing presence of e-bikes on the streets of our community this summer. The City would like to promote safe e-bike riding as a healthy and climate-friendly alternative to cars for people of all ages. 

Dan King: The City is happy to publicize e-bike safety classes in the new Wednesday Weekly Updates and in E-blasts. Some citizens’ comments in the recent community mailer survey mentioned the need for classes teaching e-bike riders how to obey traffic laws and ride safely. 

Karl Rudnick: E-bike safety classes offered by the San Diego County Bike Coalition (SCDBC) have hit a snag: The League of American Bicyclists insurance used by the SDCBC in its bike safety classes is capped at a $1m liability AND as of now the League insurance refuses to insure Class 2 e-bikes. Class 2 e-bikes are those that can go 20 mph with a throttle. Another problem is that the demand for these classes exceeds the number of classes being offered. Would the City of Solana Beach be able to co-sponsor e-bike safety classes, contracting with the SDCBC as the City of Encinitas does now with City Cycling classes? 

Dan: The City co-sponsoring e-bike classes is feasible, and Dan will contact the SDCBC to gather information. Also Captain Lopez of the San Diego County Sheriff Department is looking into implementing a policy for Solana Beach, Del Mar, and Encinitas similar to the City of Carlsbad’s e-bike policy. For more on Carlsbad’s e-bike policy, click here.

All bicyclists, including those on e-bikes, must ride safely and considerately when passing pedestrians on the Coastal Rail Trail. The subsequent Solana Beach City Weekly Update from August 3 which addressed this issue and included more on bicycle safety in our City.