\u201cThe concerns reflect a trail used by children, seniors, people with disabilities and mobility aids, parents with strollers, dog walkers, pedestrians, conventional bicyclists, and lawful e-bike riders,\u201d the \u201cDanville Iron Horse Trail Safety Report<\/a>\u201d said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kalin told The Oaklandside that it\u2019s been clear for years that the trail has become congested and that many trail users have become concerned for their safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou see 12-year-olds on illegal bikes at 35 miles an hour,\u201d he said. \u201c Do you know of any 12-year-olds with driver\u2019s licenses?\u201d<\/p>\n The report notes that Contra Costa County\u2019s June 2020 Iron Horse Corridor Active Transportation Study<\/a> found that the 10-foot-wide trail could create \u201cuncomfortable conditions and conflicts among users traveling at different speeds\u201d and recommended separating Iron Horse Trail users \u201cby speed or mode, with separate space for faster.\u201d Another study, by Dublin in 2017, also identified conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists on the trail.\u00a0East Bay Regional Park District data cited in the report from 2020 through 2023 showed the pedestrians made up 57% of users, and cyclists 43% of users, on one section of trail (Love Lane), with pedestrians making up 69% of users and cyclists 31% of users on another trail section (Treat Boulevard). <\/p>\n Danville Safety Advocates are calling for a pilot on the Iron Horse trail similar to the 2023 two-year Briones Pilot Project<\/a>, which limited some trails<\/a> to biking and horseback riding only on some days of the week. That pilot led to the Briones Special Management Area<\/a>, which set use restrictions for some trails.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kalin told The Oaklandside that one of the big problems his group\u2019s survey found was that e-bike riders were \u201cboosting\u201d legal bikes to go faster. The fastest bike allowed on trails in the East Bay is a Class II bike, which is supposed to top out at 20 miles per hour. The faster e-bike riders, he said, are causing havoc.<\/p>\n Kalin shared one example of what is happening on the trail, which he said occurred on October 1. An elementary school student collided into another student, Kalin said, sending him to the hospital. Kalin said he was out on his own bike when he noticed blood on the ground and rode to the scene. He said that the presence of an adult authority could have prevented that crash by telling the child that their bike was not allowed on the trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can have a conversation at a checkpoint with an e-bike rider,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now cyclists are going down and dogs are getting hit.\u201d<\/p>\n Since Kalin\u2019s survey was not randomized and did not follow scientific methods, the East Bay Regional Park District would need to lead its own study before drawing conclusions. The park district told The Oaklandside it does not currently have a plan for one.<\/p>\n A state law defines an e-bike<\/p>\n There has been rising concern about an influx of fast electric bikes on trails in the East Bay. Multiple residents of Oakland, Berkeley and other Bay Area cities have emailed The Oaklandside to express concern about the risk of getting hit while out on trails.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2023, the East Bay Regional Park District, which governs Iron Horse trail and multiple trails in Oakland, approved<\/a> Class I e-bikes on 850 miles<\/a> of the system\u2019s 1,330 miles of trails and Class II bikes on the system\u2019s paved trails. Class I e-bikes require pedaling, while Class II e-bikes also have throttles; both top out at 20 miles per hour. While Class II and III e-bikes, electric motorcycles and electric scooters are not allowed on unpaved trails, some trail users have observed them there.<\/p>\n A new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last month, Senate Bill 1167<\/a>, sought to clarify the difference between e-bikes and e-motorcycles to help public agencies better manage safety. The law says a bike can\u2019t be labeled an e-bike and used alongside pedaled bikes if its engine is over 750 watts and clarifies that the more powerful e-motos are for use on roadways.<\/p>\n Danville Town Manager Tai Williams reported last summer<\/a> that the city\u2019s data did not find a \u201ccurrent pattern of widespread injury\u201d due to e-bikes but that \u201cobserved behavior \u2014 particularly among younger, less experienced riders operating higher-speed devices \u2014 reflects an emerging risk profile consistent with trends identified elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams said local bicycle advocacy groups, including Bike East Bay, which advocate for safe streets in Oakland, Berkeley and other East Bay cities, have said Danville\u2019s lack of protected bike lanes can push e-motorists there onto sidewalks and trails.<\/p>\n In a June 22 meeting this year of the park district\u2019s Park Advisory Committee, a presentation by Bike East Bay, the Bicycle Trails Council of East Bay, and the California Mountain Biking Coalition found that a third of bike-related incidents on the Iron Trail in 2016 were due to e-bikes, more than double the 15% of incidents on the Contra Costa Canal Regional Trail that are e-bike-related. Their takeaway was that the difficulties with e-bikes weren\u2019t primarily due to their speeding power, but to the lack of safe bike paths surrounding the Iron Trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n Robert Prinz, a safe streets advocate with Bike East Bay, said at the meeting<\/a> that it appeared that overcrowding on a limited trail network, \u201cwhether it\u2019s a legal or illegal device,\u201d led to conflicts. Prinz noted that San Ramon passed a bike plan in 2018 that recommended protected bikeways, whose construction might have reduced demand on the main Iron trail. But they haven\u2019t yet been built.<\/p>\n More data was needed, he said, to make an informed determination about policies surrounding e-bikes on trails. He pointed to The Mineta Transportation Institute\u2019s report about California e-bike safety<\/a>, which found that many state collision reports don\u2019t distinguish between conventional and electric bikes.<\/p>\n The report did include data on e-bike collisions in California, which rose from 1 in 2017 to 961 in 2024. Collisions involving the more widely used conventional bikes dropped from 12,493 to 10,372 in the same period.<\/p>\n New rules of the road<\/p>\n According to an East Bay Regional Park District presentation<\/a> at the June meeting, the district\u2019s public affairs team has built a communications campaign that seeks to remind e-bike riders to slow down on trails. Several of its Volunteer Trail Safety Patrol members have reached out directly to riders on trails, and the park district has shared visuals through its newsletter and social media posts showing the \u201cnice\u201d way to share a trail and encouraging riders to avoid speeding recklessly past pedestrians.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an email message to The Oaklandside, park district spokesperson Jen Vanya told us that its police department \u201cencourages all visitors to practice courtesy and share our trails responsibly.\u201d She said that cyclists have a particular responsibility to consider their speed and surroundings because they can easily approach other people on trails more \u201cquickly than anticipated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vanya said the district has issued six main safety recommendations for cyclists:<\/p>\n ride no faster than 15 miles per hour and slow to 5 miles per hour when passing<\/p>\n announce your presence verbally and by using a bell<\/p>\n yield to pedestrians and equestrians<\/p>\n allow for \u201cadequate space\u201d when passing<\/p>\n slow down at blind corners and other areas of limited visibility<\/p>\n stay on designated trails.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur primary message is that cyclists should ride at a speed that allows them to react safely to changing trail conditions,\u201d she said. \u201cAnnouncing your presence is important, but it does not replace the responsibility to slow down and yield.\u201d<\/p>\n The park district\u2019s Responsible Multi-Use Trail Rules<\/a> and Biking Rules and Guidelines<\/a> provide additional information about safe trail usage. Vanya said the district has a program called Borrow a Bike Bell<\/a> in a couple of parks, including Briones Regional Park, that allows cyclists to borrow a bell for use in the park if they don\u2019t have one.<\/p>\n Bike advocacy groups have created their own materials to promote safe riding alongside pedestrians and to teach people about e-bike and e-motorcycle classifications. The Rails to Trails Conservancy built a page laying out the pros and cons of allowing so-called micromobility<\/a> devices on trails, while the Trails Are Common Ground organization has built identification<\/a> guides<\/a> that help trail users discern between the wide variety of electrified devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Iron_Horse_Regional_Trail_bridge_and_WHEELS_bus_May_2018-1.jpg\")
A bridge that\u2019s part of Iron Horse Regional Trail soars above traffic in Walnut Creek. Credit: Pi.1415926535\/Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n