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Katy council discusses e-bike and scooter rules, including 10 mph sidewalk limit and class restrictions
Summary
Council and staff reviewed state e-bike classes and possible local rules: limiting sidewalk speed to 10 mph, keeping Class 3 bikes on the road, requiring helmets and lights, and removing high-powered electric motorcycles from allowed devices; staff will draft ordinance language.
At a March 18 special workshop, Katy officials discussed updating local rules for e-bikes, electric scooters and similar devices.
Police Chief Will reviewed state classifications for electric bicycles and said the city should distinguish low-powered e-bikes from higher-powered electric motorcycles. "Class 1, 2, and 3 ... Class 3 is up to 28 miles an hour," Chief Will said, noting some cities restrict Class 3 bikes to older riders. He recommended that Class 3 bikes operate on the road rather than the sidewalk and that sidewalk travel for smaller e-bikes and scooters be capped at 10 miles per hour.
Council members raised enforceability concerns where sidewalks are absent and noted concentrated groups of students on routes to Katy Junior High and neighborhood schools. A council member summarized the proposed sidewalk rule: "So you're saying, if it's on the sidewalk, no faster than 10 miles an hour." Chief Will said helmets, headlights and a prohibition on hearing devices that would impair hearing should be part of safety rules, and that the city should remove devices that are effectively electric motorcycles from allowed devices because of speed and safety risks.
Officials also discussed the city's older "motor-assisted scooter" ordinance (1999) and agreed an updated ordinance should address modern devices and paid-scooter programs (for example, Lime-style services) by including deployment areas or parking/staging rules.
The workshop produced direction to staff: draft e-bike and scooter ordinance language that clarifies device classes, age limits where appropriate, sidewalk speed limits, helmet and lighting requirements, and provisions addressing shared scooter operators; staff will bring the draft back for formal consideration.
