Jacksonville City Council Notice Meeting on E-Bike Safety Legislation - August 17, 2026
Jacksonville City Council Notice Meeting on E-Bike Safety Legislation - August 17, 2026
Councilmember Boylan convened a notice meeting to discuss proposed e-bike legislation, aiming to establish reasonable safety rules for e-bike users, pedestrians, and motorists. The bill was developed with input from the Office of General Counsel, local stakeholders, and a review of ordinances from other Florida jurisdictions. Key topics included speed limits on sidewalks, a minimum age for operators, enforcement mechanisms, and the role of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) in supporting the ordinance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mary Noonan presented findings from a recent study of crashes at the Beaches, noting difficulty in identifying e-bike incidents from JSO reports (hand-sorted ~500 reports). She emphasized the need for law enforcement education to improve crash data collection and noted many crashes involved riders under 18.
- Ernest Smith (Chair, Urban Core CPAC) questioned the enforcement "teeth" of the ordinance, asking how JSO would enforce new rules given their primary crime-fighting responsibilities. He suggested community service officers could assist.
- Tanner Pletzky (Junior Bike/Ped Coordinator) supported the bill as a tool for public education, noting that lack of a city ordinance contributes to misuse. He cautioned that 20 mph on sidewalks is still very fast and distinguished between bike lanes/roadways and sidewalks/shared use paths. He also noted that many e-bikes sold directly to consumers are intended to be modified, undermining class classifications.
- Lauren (from Bike Walk Jacksonville) expressed general support but raised concerns about the proposed 10 mph speed limit, noting that even regular cyclists average 10–15 mph. She urged that the bill not burden lawful e-bike users and suggested that many reported issues stem from e-motorcycles rather than true e-bikes.
- Matt (from Planning Department) suggested tying the bill to the city's Vision Zero effort and supported the proposed definitions (Class 1, 2, 3). He noted that Class 3 e-bikes (up to 28 mph) might be better excluded.
Discussion Items
- Bill Overview (Corey Milo, Office of General Counsel): The ordinance defines e-bike classes, shared use paths, and sets regulations: e-bikes may operate on bike lanes, paths, sidewalks, and roadways; on sidewalks and shared use paths, a 10 mph speed limit applies, and riders must yield to pedestrians and provide an audible signal when passing. No person under 11 may operate an e-bike; helmets required under 16; passengers only if bike has designated seat; proper lighting; and a prohibition on modifications that exceed manufacturer speed. Enforcement is a class C offense (fine up to $100, up to 60 days incarceration, though incarceration not intended). A parental responsibility clause was included.
- JSO Concerns: Councilmember Boylan reported that JSO stated they cannot support the bill if it retains (1) the 10 mph speed limit on sidewalks (preferring the current state statute of 28 mph) and (2) the age restriction. JSO indicated difficulty in estimating riders' ages and preferred no age limit, leaving that to parental responsibility.
- Councilmember Reactions:
- Councilmember Salem opposed an age limit, stating it is a parental responsibility and citing examples of mature 9-year-olds and reckless 16-year-olds. He supported removing the age limit.
- Councilmember Peluso agreed with removing the age limit, but stressed retaining helmet requirements under 16 and ensuring scooter/bike share companies update their apps with new rules.
- Councilmember Boylan shared three personal incidents (crashes, reckless riding) to illustrate the need for education and enforcement.
- Councilmember Pulusso (joining late) indicated a preference for a single bill covering both e-bikes and scooters but deferred to the current singular focus.
- Speed Limit Compromise: Councilmembers discussed adjusting the sidewalk speed limit from 10 mph to 20 mph, which aligns with the typical maximum speed of Class 1 and 2 e-bikes. Councilmember Boylan committed to discussing this compromise with JSO.
Key Outcomes
- Age Limit Removed: The proposed minimum age of 11 will be struck from the bill, based on JSO's opposition and council consensus that it should be a parental decision.
- Speed Limit Under Negotiation: Councilmember Boylan will revisit JSO to propose a 20 mph speed limit on sidewalks as a compromise on the sidewalk speed limit. The bill currently proposes 10 mph; council favored 20 mph to align with state statutes and e-bike capabilities.
- Enforcement & Education Enhancement: Councilmember Boylan will work with JSO to incorporate an optional safety class (similar to Fernandina Beach's model) that allows violators to attend a training video instead of paying a fine.
- Future Scope: The bill will remain focused solely on e-bikes, but councilmembers agreed to consider later legislation addressing scooters and e-motorcycles, potentially using this ordinance as a template.
- Next Steps: Councilmember Boylan will direct Corey Milo to draft a substitute bill reflecting the above changes, then reintroduce it after confirming JSO's position on the 20 mph speed limit.
Meeting Transcript
All right. I think we're ready to get started. I'm going to call uh to order the meeting of this notice meeting with respect to the e-bike legislation we're proposing. I invite my colleagues to introduce themselves. Ken Amar of City Council District 1. Ron Salem Group 2 at large. And I thank all those who've participated in this conversation and those who are here and uh Mr. Councilmember Pulusso is joining us. If you can grab a copy of that. That's okay. We know who you are. I did uh just by way of background. Uh this bill was something I've uh been talking about since October of last year. Uh constituent and many of my bills, my last bill on invasive species was initiated by concern raised by constituent. And so I think uh you need to be responsive when there are specific actions and concerns raised. According to the during the course of time since October, we've seen quite a number of folks speaking to this issue of uh e-bike safety. And so uh we kind of put a pause on it. I started to work with uh Milo Corey Corey Milo here in a minute. I keep wanting to make him Milo Corey. I'd like it better, but Corey Milo is fine. The Office of General Counsel. And uh so we did a lot, I'll let him speak a little bit to the homework we did. We took a look at other legislation around the state, uh, and as well as whatever is available through the Florida statute and how that would play it out. We put a pause on it when the state legislature, Senate Bill 382, I believe it was, was introduced, then ultimately uh vetoed by the governor uh for concern of over enforcement, and uh apparently there was supposed to be a statewide documentation issues that seemed to be a little bit onerous for him to accept. So with uh that veto, we uh we've picked up uh our pace in in terms of introducing this bill. And as we pushed it out there, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of active interest in this in this conversation. Uh so from there, uh the bill was drafted. We've received from uh Miss Lauren over here a beautiful uh email report letter lining out some suggestions from the bike walk folks, and then we reached out to Matt Fall and the planning department uh in terms of their comments. So we see we see uh here an evolving bill. Uh so last week, after multiple iterations uh uh in our last conversation with Helen Helena Prola and Matt Fall, the current iteration you see before you is what uh is proposed at this point in time. It may ultimately be a substitute because it's a far cry from what we initially had uh introduced or developed. Uh from there, uh I met with JSO, uh Chief Stranko and Commander Damone last week. Uh and we'll get to their concerns here. Largely uh for the most part, the bill, as per their uh understanding, uh is uh a duplication of existing Florida statutes. But that being said, it's not uncommon for us to have local bills that mirror Florida statutes. So I don't have any uh pain with that, and I think it's fine. Uh and and if nothing else, through this process, if we're able to make families, parents, guardians, children aware of their responsibility as a you know, in terms of e-bike safety, uh I will feel that we've accomplished what we needed to do. So what I thought we would do today is invite uh I'm gonna invite uh Corey here to take a few minutes to walk you through the bill. Uh we'll look from additional comments, and then I'll talk a little bit about what JSO's concerns are and and my thoughts on what we may do to make sure that this bill is acceptable to my colleagues as we move it forward. Before we even dive there, I just ask about one definition. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for hosting this meeting. Uh so I see obviously a lot of electric bikes. What about um electric scooters? Well, you know, there was a lot of conversation about do we want to broaden this? I want to stay singular in this process to make sure it gets done. Uh we can certainly come back and deal with those, maybe use this as a template to say to what do we do? How does this parallel with other personal vehicle mobility vehicles? I mean, I just feel like they're so similar. Well, I get it, but I want to get this done first.
openpublica.com