Here’s what we heard at one of the three town halls revving up public input for the park district’s micromobility policies

The Chicago Park District is holding three “Micromobility in the Parks” town halls to share info about “a new state law impacting micromobility and share your ideas for new rules for micromobility vehicles on Chicago Park District bicycle paths and trails.” One was held Tuesday in Clarendon Park in Uptown, a second happened on Wednesday in Ellis Park, in the Douglas community, and a third will happen online next Tuesday, October 6, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Click here to register for that meeting.

The new law, SB336, establishes regulations on all electric micromobility devices, including where they can go, and who can ride them. Covering e-bikes, electric motorcycles (“e-motos”), e-scooters, electric skateboards, and electric unicycles, it goes into effect on New Year’s Day.

Pam Witmer, Director of Policy at the park district, led the presentation at the Ellis Park Arts and Recreation Center. She discussed the vehicles that won’t be allowed on off-street multi-use paths or bike lanes. “That includes e-bikes that can go faster than 28 miles per hour, gas-powered bikes that can exceed 28 miles per hour, and other motor-driven cycles.” Any e-bike that’s not a Class One, a Class Two, or a Class 3 is forbidden. Here’s how those classes break down.

• Class 1: pedal assist only, maximum speed of 20 mph
• Class 2: pedal assist and throttle, maximum speed of 20 mph for both functions
• Class 3: pedal assist and throttle, maximum speed of 28 mph for pedal assist and maximum speed of 20 mph for throttle

Divvy e-bikes are Class 2. You can ride all three classes on any surface street, bike lane, or off-street path. Other vehicles allowed on bikeways by the new law include low-speed e-scooters with a speed limit of 15 mph. High-speed e-scooters, e-unicycles, and e-skateboards with a maximum speed of 28 mph are also permitted on bikeways.  

“Going back to our motor-driven cycles, which are our super fast e-bikes, our super fast gas-powered bikes, motorcycles, and mopeds,” said Witmer. “There’s some additional rules that are going to apply to those operators.”

According to the statewide bicycle advocacy organization Ride Illinois, for “Motor Driven Cycles (including e-motos)… device registration, a driver’s license, and insurance are required beginning January 1, 2027.”

Witmer also talked age requirements as defined by the law. “All of our electric micro-mobility device users need to be at least 16 years old,” she said. “The riders of Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes need to be at least 15, and [operators of] Class 3 e-bikes, which are the ones that can go 28 miles per hour, need to be at least 16. And then there is a carveout for devices that are manufactured to carry more than one person. That operator needs to be 18, unless they are taking with them a sibling, a step-sibling, a child, or a stepchild. And then the high-speed e-bikes, which fall under the motor-driven cycles, those folks need to be at least 16 and have a driver’s license, a title, registration, and insurance.”

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, a Chicago mayoral candidate, who helped push for the new legislation, discussed reasons why he feel it was important to pass the bill in an interview with Streetsblog’s John Greenfield last week. In addition to establishing consistent rules statewide, he said one goal was educating the public how various devices operate.

“We saw a lot of parents and grandparents buying e-bikes for nine- and ten-year-olds, not realizing they’d go 40, 50, 60 miles an hour,” Giannoulias said. “So bringing awareness is something that’s really important to us… It’s about working with law enforcement to help regulate some of these vehicles because, as you mentioned, sometimes people call these things e-bikes, and they’re literally motorcycles.”

Towards the end of the town hall, Witmer said the park district wants to get feedback on micromobility restrictions. “We could establish more restrictive rules should we want to,” she said. Specifically, they want feedback “on speed limits, types of devices, and safety.”

Officials will present a draft of a park district code amendment in regards to the new micromobility at the agency’s November 18 board meeting as part of a 45-day notice process. The recommendations will also be put on the Chicago Park District website for public input. The board will take a vote on the proposed amendment at its January meeting, and if the guidelines are approved, they will be effective immediately.

It’s good to see that the Chicago Park District is taking the bull by the horns, or the e-moto by the handlebars, when it comes to creating policies that comply with the new state legislation.

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