Simi Valley adopts 2025 Bicycle Master Plan and updates e‑bike enforcement ordinance

The Simi Valley City Council on the evening’s agenda voted unanimously to adopt Ordinance No. 1367, updating the municipal code’s definitions for electric bicycles and adding enforcement provisions, and to approve Resolution 2026‑05 adopting the city’s 2025 Bicycle Master Plan.

City staff and consultant Andrew Prescott presented the Bicycle Master Plan as a nonbinding blueprint intended to guide future bicycle infrastructure, education and funding priorities. Public Works Director Ron Fujiwaki and the consultants said the plan uses five years of collision data, mobility datasets (including Strava and Replica), community outreach pop‑ups and neighborhood‑council input to prioritize projects for grant competitiveness. "This plan is a blueprint for what would be ideal in terms of bicycling throughout the city," the consultant said during the presentation.

During the council discussion, staff emphasized that the plan does not obligate the city to construct the recommended projects without subsequent analyses, funding and additional community engagement. Justin Link, the city’s principal engineer and traffic engineer, told the council that individual projects would return for corridor‑level traffic and driveway access analyses where needed and that an adopted plan improves the city’s competitiveness for grant funding programs that reward shovel‑ready projects.

Several residents who spoke during public comment urged caution on specific corridors. Jill Abala, a cyclist, said the draft plan did not sufficiently distinguish between small electric bicycles and larger electric motorcycles and warned that some high‑impact projects would remove vehicle lanes, potentially creating congestion on streets such as Los Angeles Avenue. Another commenter pointed to Cochran, a street fronting two high schools, as an area needing more detailed study before lane changes. Council members and staff agreed that corridor studies and further outreach — particularly with school district staff — should precede construction decisions.

Separately, officers and staff introduced and the council adopted Ordinance No. 1367 at second reading. The ordinance updates the municipal code to incorporate recent California classifications for electric bicycles (including Class 3), and includes enforcement mechanisms that allow removal of devices and require participation in a bicycle safety or training program to secure return of a seized device. Police representatives present described an education‑first approach during the 30‑day outreach period before enforcement would be emphasized. The ordinance becomes effective 30 days after adoption and staff said they will lead public education during that period.

The council’s votes were unanimous on both the ordinance and the resolution. Council members and staff said the next steps will be focused implementation planning: seeking grants for priority projects, conducting corridor analyses where lane changes are proposed, and pursuing additional outreach with affected stakeholders including the school district.

The council approved the Bicycle Master Plan and the ordinance without further amendment; staff committed to returning to council with project‑level studies and community outreach before any construction or lane reconfiguration occurred. The meeting adjourned later in the evening.