There is proposed new legislation in Harrisburg for e-bikes.

The proposal defines for cities and towns exactly what constitutes an e-bike, which in turn would allow municipalities to create better rules regarding their operations on local streets and sidewalks.

Samuel Echard, who runs the Greensburg Bike Shop in Youngwood, says that the e-bike business has really taken off over the last few years.

“So, in the summer, when it’s busy, we sell between 40 and 50 e-bikes a month and about one regular bike, to that 40 or 50 e-bikes,” Echard said.

E-bikes are a great tool for recreation and a great source of transportation, especially for those who can’t afford a car. However, in many places, like the city of Arnold, e-bikes are posing a problem.

“Nobody is following traffic patterns,” said Arnold Mayor Shannon Santucci. “They are not stopping at stop signs, and it is a big concern, mostly for injuries. The police department has a lot of concerns about the e-bikes as well, and we were contemplating on looking at, legally, how we could maybe make some kind of ordinances of our own to make it a little bit safer for drivers in the community.”

The potential good news for Arnold and other such towns and cities across the Commonwealth is that there is a newly proposed piece of bipartisan legislation in Harrisburg that looks to protect e-bikes as a sport but also clarify and define what delineates an e-bike from a bicycle or motorcycle.

“Class one is pedal assist up to 20 mph,” said Republican Rep. Jill Cooper of District 55, who is proposing the bill. “Class two is a throttle, which is very different, meaning you can go up to 20 mph without pedal assist. And class three is pedal assist up to 28 mph.”

Rep. Cooper says that her proposed law is similar to e-bike laws in 22 other states.

“It is sort of middle ground, right?” Rep. Cooper said. “We are giving higher fines for the e-bike if you violate (laws) and you aren’t driving them safely. But we are also giving flexibility for how a municipality wants to regulate them. And the other thing we are taking away is making no registrations, so you can ride them, and you don’t have to worry about being registered from one county to the next.”

Rep. Cooper hopes to have this legislation taken up in Harrisburg sometime in the near future.