Marin Voice: MMWD’s e-bike pilot is a brake-check on progress

The Class I e-bike pilot program on Marin Municipal Water District land is underway, stretching from July 2025 through June 2027.

At first glance, it resembles forward-thinking recreation management with wildlife monitoring, trail counters and visitor intercept surveys. But look deeper and it is clear that this is not a bold leap toward inclusive access. It is the aftershock of a settlement agreement – a compromise wrapped in caution tape.

This pilot is not a triumph of consensus or community need. It is the result of litigation filed by a group of environmental groups. I think threats outlined in a recent lawsuit led MMWD to adopt this monitoring-heavy program for e-bikes.

It feels like e-bike supporters are navigating a two-year gauntlet. I worry the outcome will be a weaponization of junk data to further exclude access. And, if the worst doesn’t happen, it will all be in exchange for the continued use of Class I e-bikes on watershed fire roads.

That’s right, for years, mountain bikers have been respectfully and safely riding Class I e-bikes on Marin fire roads. The pilot’s premise suggests we are at square one, yet the actual conditions speak to a quiet success. The fire roads have not crumbled, wildlife has not disappeared and emergency response has not been taxed.

Rather than acknowledge the stability of this evolving norm, the pilot wraps existing practice in a new layer of scrutiny, with eight permanent trail counters, two years of visitor intercept surveys, bat monitoring with acoustic mapping and habitat analysis, northern spotted owl surveillance, invasive species assessments, quarterly stakeholder meetings, signage infrastructure, digital analytics and environmental consultants.

This pilot will be expensive. Biologists, survey teams, analytics platforms, community engagement specialists, signage consultants and tech equipment are all on this long list with a large invoice.

I am concerned it will be MMWD ratepayers who pay the price. In other words, some of the same members of the community already using these trails safely now find themselves underwriting a complex pilot process for what is already working.

This moment held enormous potential. Marin could have used it to affirm e-bike access while also investing in sustainable singletrack management and education campaigns that bring new riders into a culture of stewardship. Instead, we are investing in a two-year monitoring marathon with no promise of expanded access, no singletrack inclusion and no timeline for broader equity. It is an audit of something that is already working, all at our expense.

The pilot also lacks any formal mechanism for adaptive response. If e-bike use continues to be safe and responsible, what happens next? If community engagement reveals strong support, does that inform policy? The absence of a transparent feedback loop suggests this is more about funding the litigants’ whims than truly informing policy.

Mountain bikers are not adversaries of environmentalism and stewardship, they are some of its most impassioned defenders. Trail volunteers, local advocacy groups and community educators have helped maintain and protect Marin’s natural spaces for decades. Class I e-bike riders are part of that ecosystem. They are often older adults, parents, people with physical disabilities and newcomers who use pedal-assist bikes to stay active and healthy, while enjoying responsible recreation in nature.

This pilot should have uplifted those voices. Instead, it feels like an attempt to re-debate settled terrain. Wrapped in a disguise of scientific rigor, the program creates the illusion of uncertainty. But the real question is not whether Class I e-bikes belong on fire roads, it is why common-sense access is continually thwarted by these groups who use litigation to dictate land-use policy.

Recreational access to our public open spaces is not an inconvenience; it is fundamental to community health, environmental engagement and equity. If we truly want responsible stewardship of these spaces, we need to support diverse access, transparent policy development and collaborative planning. That is the just path toward inclusivity in our public lands and, ultimately, to their durable conservation.

Stephen McDaniel, of San Rafael, is president of the Access4Bikes foundation board. Email president@access4bikes.com.