Help an old lady out here, why is an e-bike different regarding bike rules? Can I ride my regular old bike where the e-bikes are supposed to go?

Mountain View recently started allowing e-bikes (as well as "hoverboards") on existing bike paths in city parks. Previously, e-bikes were banned on all city bike paths. I'm sure that is what Menlo Park is considering as well, though there are far fewer bike paths in Menlo Park than in Mountain View, so this will probably be a very short discussion. I do not know if Palo Alto has any laws banning or allowing e-bikes on bike paths. It would be nice if neighboring cities got together and standardized their rules.

Currently the bike bridges over San Francisquito Creek and Highway 101 are signed in such a way that would prevent people using an electric-assisted bicycle from using those bridges. It is to clarify that e-bikes would be treated the same as other bikes, rather than being lumped in with motorcycles. This would not affect regular bikes at all.

$2 million for renovations to City Hall? It looks to be in pretty good shape to me.

@parent, it would be even better if the state came out with mandatory rules that would be uniform throughout the state. In our area it is sometimes hard to tell which city you are in, so if each city can choose its own rules the result is confusion and people will get undeserved citations. What if you want to go from Redwood City to Mountain View and pass through Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and possibly Los Altos on the way? How many people know exactly where the city limits are and which rules apply where? What do you do with streets that have one city on one side and another on the other side (e.g. El Camino just south of San Antonio)? Do you have different rules on different sides of the street?

The state has been working to update the Vehicle Code to address classifying newer modes of transport and their regulations on state roads. They have for the most part left the regulation of local paths up to the respective jurisdictions. In the case of E-bikes, Class I and II, they are allowed by state law unless local ordinance bans them, in the case of E scooters, E skateboards, etc. it bans them unless local ordinance allows. The Ebike/Escooter ordinance is meant to address these concerns.