The Collector
September 11, 2026
Will Increased E-Bike Enforcement Really Help Anything?
E-bikes have become enormously popular in recent years, and with good reason. E-bikes can provide the extra assistance needed for many older folks and people with disabilities to get around on a bike. They can help parents haul kids and groceries. They can help people bike longer distances and get up steeper hills. And research shows that people use e-bikes to replace cars on many trips, improving health and reducing climate pollution.
As more and more e-bikes hit the streets, there have been more crashes involving e-bikes (although, as we have noted in the past, many crashes reported as involving e-bikes actually involved high-powered e-motos). Just as with crashes involving pedestrians and “analog” bikes, the public discourse around e-bike crashes focuses almost exclusively on the behavior of e-bike riders. In other words, the public almost always blames the victim. The results of this trend include initiatives like the Eureka Police Department’s current crack-down on e-bike riders.
CRTP applauds EPD’s recent efforts to bring more attention to the traffic safety crisis in Eureka, which started long before anyone was riding an e-bike. And we don’t deny that – just like drivers, pedestrians, and other bicyclists – e-bike riders don’t always make safe and responsible choices. But we have serious concerns about a law enforcement campaign focused on people riding e-bikes.
Most bike and e-bike legal infractions are not related to behaviors that truly increase safety risk, and they tend to be disproportionately enforced on people of color and unhoused people. In fact, the National Association of City Transportation Officials has called for the repeal of most laws criminalizing bike riders, both because of their inequitable impacts and because they do not improve safety.
Even infractions that are often seen as dangerous – like riding on the sidewalk, riding against traffic, or rolling through a stop sign – are often logical responses to infrastructure that is not designed for bikes. Facing hostile infrastructure, bicyclists often choose what they feel is safe over what the law says they should do. Telling them not to do so is unlikely to change their behavior.
And even in cases where there is no clear explanation or excuse for the risky activities of particular people riding e-bikes, enforcement is unlikely to result in lasting behavior change or safety gains at a community level. As advocates have long pointed out, enforcement is a high-effort, low-impact road safety intervention. So while traffic stops for high-risk behaviors – like speeding or driving under the influence – can mitigate an immediate safety risk, we must not let a focus on enforcement distract from proven, long-term safety countermeasures like traffic calming and better bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
Finally, we have to note that, when facing the fact that a dramatic increase in enforcement has not resulted in any meaningful safety gains, EPD has implied that many of its traffic stops are actually pretextual. (For example: “Traffic stops can lead to the identification of individuals wanted on warrants, the discovery of drug activity, and the apprehension of individuals involved in violent or property crimes.”) But the research shows that pretextual stops are subject to bias, do not increase road safety, and are not effective at discovering or reducing other criminal activity.
In light of these facts, CRTP is urging EPD to focus its enforcement efforts on only the most dangerous behaviors. We also urge EPD to act as “eyes and ears” on the street and work with the city’s engineering department to help identify dangerous locations and inadequate infrastructure before more crashes happen. Put another way, we hope EPD will apply the familiar principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and help champion the proven strategy of Crash Prevention Through Street Design.
Most critically, we urge the whole of city government to work together toward proven, sustainable safety countermeasures. This means recognizing e-bike safety – and all transportation safety – as primarily a public health problem, not a law enforcement problem, and prioritizing the most effective systemic measures accordingly.
Transit Month Continues!
Next Monday, September 14th, Humboldt Transit Authority bus drivers will be joining CRTP at Friends of the Eel River’s monthly Solidarity Gathering at Humbrews in Arcata from 5-7 pm. Come out to meet the folks who keep the buses moving, ask them your burning questions about how transit works, and show your appreciation for some of our community’s most essential workers! Special thanks to AFSCME Local 1684 for co-sponsoring this event.
The following Monday, September 21st, CRTP will be hosting a transit rider gathering. It’s an opportunity to connect with fellow riders and add your voice to local and regional transit issues. From protecting existing funding to building a better system for riders of all abilities, ages, and backgrounds, attend to learn how you can make a difference on Humboldt’s bus systems. Text or call 707-440-9839 for time & location.
The annual Unmet Transit Needs process has also begun in Humboldt County, providing an opportunity to get your observations and opinions about the need for specific transit service improvements documented in the official record. You can provide your input using the survey here.
Finally, don’t forget to keep logging your transit rides throughout the month of September for a chance to win prizes donated by the Humboldt Transit Authority!
Central McKinleyville Is 38% Parking
Following up on our previously published maps of off-street parking in downtown Eureka and Arcata, CRTP has now produced a map of off-street parking in McKinleyville’s Central Avenue corridor. The conclusion – shocking, but perhaps not surprising – is that 38% of developable land in the corridor is covered by parking lots.
This analysis demonstrates both a massive challenge and a huge potential for turning not just the designated Town Center, but also the rest of the community’s core area, into a more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly corridor.
$23 Million and Counting for Eureka Slough Bridge Repairs
The Eureka Slough Bridges carry a lot of traffic, and Caltrans should do what it has to do to ensure they’re safe. But this ongoing emergency project has us thinking: wouldn’t it be nice if Caltrans acted with the same urgency and the same open-ended funding commitment to addressing the injuries and deaths that happen regularly on the US 101 corridor throughout Eureka? Or at least created a temporary safe route for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the highway, with the Waterfront Trail under the bridges closed indefinitely while bridge work continues?
News from Beyond the North Coast
Let’s Kill That Bill
As we’ve previously reported, the federal transportation reauthorization bill is bad for safety, bad for pedestrians, bad for bicyclists, and bad for transit. Congress recently passed a stopgap transportation bill, but this bad bill is still waiting in the wings. Tell Congress to scrap it and start over.
Pickups and SUVs Are Truly Dangerous for Pedestrians
Another new study shows that bigger vehicles, especially those with higher front ends, are much more likely to kill or seriously injure pedestrians in a crash. Pickup trucks in the study were most likely to kill or injure someone when a crash happens, while full-size SUVs were most likely to get in a crash in the first place.
The Collector is CRTP’s weekly transportation news roundup, published every Friday. We focus on North Coast news, but we also include relevant state, national and international transportation news – plus other items that we just find kind of interesting! To submit items for consideration, email colin@transportationpriorities.org.
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