Jeff Strahley, of Red Bank, New Jersey, spent an early November afternoon riding along the Delaware Canal towpath near Washington Crossing Park in Bucks County. He has mixed feelings about the increased e-bike presence on the popular trail. “There’s good and bad. The good is it gets more people out on the trails that might be restricted, health-wise or injury-wise,” Strahley says. “But there’s a lot of people abusing the e-bikes where they have high-powered, super fast e-bikes where people are walking or walking their dogs.”
Cyclists often ride along the Delaware Canal or the Delaware and Raritan (D&R) Canal State Park towpath that’s across the Delaware River in New Jersey. Many of them walk their bikes over the Washington Crossing, Lambertville or Frenchtown bridges to ride a looped trail that lets them enjoy both towpaths.
On the New Jersey side, Division of Parks and Recreation officials are currently developing a policy that will outline guidelines for e-bike use on state park lands based on the three e-bike classifications. Class 1 e-bikes provide only pedal-assist power and Class 2 provide pedal assist as well as a throttle. Both Class 1 and Class 2 bikes can reach top speeds of 20 mph, compared with Class 3 e-bikes, which can reach speeds as high as 28 mph. A parks system media representative told Grid that only Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are currently permitted on trails such as the D&R Canal towpath. There are no posted speed limits on the 70-mile-long towpath, but park officials recommend a 15 mph speed limit.
The same representative also said the New Jersey State Park Police have no records of any incidents in which an e-bike operator has been cited or fined for improper use…