Seaside Heights Code Enforcement officers journey alongside the boardwalk, July 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
Seaside Heights officers on Wednesday unanimously voted to introduce an ordinance that will prohibit the operation of powered bicycles on the borough’s boardwalk.
“We’ve had some problems the past few years with electric and gas bicycles,” mentioned Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz. “It’s been on a list of things to tackle.”
Cities throughout the nation are coping with the proliferation of powered bicycles, with some having seen will increase in accidents and accidents after they grew to become extra well-liked. In Seaside Heights, the main focus of the ordinance is on the boardwalk, the place officers imagine the minimal 25 m.p.h. pace, which makes the bikes authorized to journey on public streets, are too quick for the boardwalk and would pose issues of safety.
“It’s endangering people, because we’re looking at a whole new plateau of speed,” mentioned Mayor Anthony Vaz. “There are also people on scooters and other mobility devices on our boardwalk. It’s not just a bicycle pedaling anymore, and there are crowded conditions here.”
The ordinance would prohibit powered bicycles and scooters on the boardwalk, together with these fueled by each electrical and gasoline. The powered bikes and scooters, if they’re certainly street-legal, would nonetheless be permitted to function on public streets underneath state motorized vehicle statutes.
A rumored proposal for a business operator to deploy a public community of bicycles all through Seaside Heights has not materialized, however the prospect of such an inflow of the autos to city – regardless of supply – triggered concern for security on the boardwalk. The “e-bikes,” they’re recognized in lots of cities all over the world, could be unlocked with a smartphone app and left at varied places round city. Officials pressured that no such plan has been formally proposed, a lot much less accredited, in Seaside Heights.
“We don’t want to see them on the boardwalk, as they’ll become a nuisance,” mentioned Christopher Vaz. “With a smartphone app, you don’t have that personal supervision you see at a physical bike rental business.”
Under the borough’s current ordinance, conventional (pedal-driven) bicycles are permitted on the boardwalk April 1 to October 31 annually on weekends (Saturdays, Sundaysm and vacation Mondays) solely between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midday. From June 15 to Labor Day, bicycles could also be operated on the boardwalk on weekdays, not together with vacation Mondays, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. From Nov. 1 via March 31, bicycles are allowed on the boardwalk any time.
Skateboards should not permitted on the boardwalk at any time.
The ordinance to ban powered bicycles would be the topic of a required public listening to and second vote on the May 4, 2022 assembly of the borough council.