- Legislature approves Washington Bikes e-moto reforms
- We protected funding for bike education and infrastructure
The Legislature finished another fiscally challenging, fast-moving legislative session on March 12, and Washington Bikes stood up for policies that make Washington state safer and more accessible for people who bike.
Legislative Wins for 2026:
- Protected e-bike access by regulating e-motos. New legislation creates a separate legal definition for these mini electric motorcycles so that they are not confused with electric bikes.
- Maintained more than $150 million in Move Ahead Washington funding commitments for key WSDOT grant programs: Safe Routes to Schools, Pedestrian and Bicycle Program, Sandy Williams Connecting Communities, and the Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program. This funding means there will be more money for new trails, sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks, and safe streets.
Washington Bikes entered the 2026 session looking to protect funding for bike programs despite a budget deficit, and to win approval for a new law regulating e-motos. In addition to protecting bike program funding and changing state law to exclude e-motos from our laws that protect e-bike use, we also pushed bills to safeguard vulnerable road users and build more Complete Streets.
Read on for more detail on our legislative agenda and priority issues:
Policy Win: Regulate E-Motos Posing as E-Bikes
Because they resemble – and thus can be confused with – electric bikes, some states have moved to ban e-bikes from their streets and trails. Washington Bikes supports legal Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 e-bikes because they make the joy of bicycling available to a wider range of people.
This law’s aim is to prevent e-motos from being conflated with e-bikes, thus protecting favorable public perception of electric bikes and preventing the policy backlash taking place in other states. Executive Director Lee Lambert testified on behalf of this legislation.
“Washington isn’t alone in grappling with e-motos,” Lambert told legislators. “California took a hard ban approach and e-motos are now 100% illegal in California on streets, sidewalks, and bike lanes without full motorcycle registration. New Jersey scrapped its three-class e-bike system entirely. Most states have no e-moto definition at all. Washington’s balanced approach with clear definitions, separate classifications, and a work group to guide enforcement is a model for the country.”
Budget Win: Fund the Promises in Move Ahead WA
The 2022 Move Ahead Washington legislation marked a historic investment in safer streets, a more bikeable state, and the creation of a Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program.
Despite a shortfall in the transportation budget, legislative champions in the House and Senate Transportation committees maintained funding commitments that will result in millions of dollars in new sidewalks, bike lanes and crosswalks, as well as thousands of youth gaining vital street safety skills in the coming years.
More Work Ahead: Protect Vulnerable Road Users
HB2095 would increase accountability for people driving by updating Washington’s existing Vulnerable Road User law to create a presumption of driver liability when a person driving crashes into a person biking, walking or rolling in a bike lane, crosswalk, or on a sidewalk. The bill would also require training for law enforcement, judges, and prosecutors on laws pertaining to crashes with vulnerable road users.
While the House approved this bill it didn’t make it out of it’s Senate committee. We plan to advocate for passage of this legislation again next year to strengthen protections for people biking, walking and rolling.
More Work Ahead: Complete More Complete Streets
SB5581 to implement the Safe Systems Approach passed the Senate but ran out of time in the House. The bill would enable WSDOT to fulfill its Complete Streets requirement in partnership with local agencies and tribes.
We plan to advocate for passage of this legislation again in 2027.
What’s Next
These legislative wins would be impossible without your support. Washington Bikes is the strongest voice for safer bicycling in Washington state because of bike advocates like you. Thank you to everyone who showed up, signed in, wrote in, and pedaled up to the Capitol steps on a cold January morning during our Bike Lobby Days.
