The City of Sarnia is asking for public feedback regarding the possible use of e-bikes on public trails and pathways.
A short survey will be available online until February 2 at 4 p.m.
Currently, e-bikes are only allowed on city roadways under the Highway Traffic Act.
Manager of Development and Transportation Alister Brown said discussions surrounding the city's Traffic and Parking By-Law came up last year when a community group asked to operate electric trishaws on local trails as part of a pilot program.
The review will now look into how the current by-law reflects the needs of changing transportation modes.
"It is becoming a more popular mode of transportation that people are actively seeking out and want to use," he said.
Brown said they are conducting a broad municipal comparison across the province to see how other communities have approached the topic with its residents.
"We get to see the varying results of those processes and use that to engage our community and see what the level of tolerance, or what our active transportation users want to see in the community," Brown said.
Through the survey, city staff have also outlined the advantages and disadvantages to potential by-law changes.
"It's an environmentally-friendly alternative to a car trip for either a commute or for running errands, or even just getting out and being active," Brown said.
"Some of the disadvantages, obviously it is a powered vehicle and they're a little bit heavier and larger than a typical bicycle and can move at a higher rate of speed."
As specified on the Speak Up Sarnia website, e-bikes generally fall into two categories: pedal assist e-bikes and throttled e-bikes. E-scooters are not considered e-bikes.
Once feedback is collected, Brown said they hope to approach Sarnia City Council with a report (which will include recommendations for next steps) in March or April.
