Bike advocates in Washington State won a bit this legislative session while also avoiding funding cuts and the kinds of anti-bicycle laws under consideration this year in other states.
Preserving funding for safe streets programs is always an important goal, especially as budgets face crunches, and Washington Bikes celebrated that the state remains on track to invest $150 million into safe streets and and walk/bike access programs this year. Much of this funding was from the 2022 Move Ahead Washington funding package, but advocates have to keep an eye on the funds every year to make sure legislators don’t raid them to close budget holes elsewhere.
The biggest successful bill on the WA Bikes to-do list was Senate Bill 6110 – 2025-26, which clarified the legal definition of an e-bike to specifically exclude higher-power and higher-speed two-wheelers that are often referred to as “e-bikes.” We reported about this bill several times during the session. The bill should secure the current legal status of class 1, 2 and 3 e-bikes, preventing the kinds of clumsy bans and restrictions other places in the country have put in place in an attempt to stop the proliferation of higher-speed devices. As of press time, the bill is sitting on Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk waiting to be signed into law. Once he does, any two-wheeler with a motor that can output more than 750 Watts and provide assist beyond 20 mph with a throttle (or 28 mph with pedal assist) cannot be considered a legal e-bike even if it has a lower power mode that does comply with the limits.
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The bill stopped short of defining all these out-of-class devices as motorcycles, which was included in an earlier draft from the House. However, such a change could be coming in a future legislative session because the bill also requires the Department of Licensing to convene a workgroup to figure out the best agency and legislative policy steps for dealing with these devices. Is there space for a middle-ground device between e-bike and freeway-capable motorcycle? Perhaps an expansion of the existing classifications for mopeds or vespa-style scooters could be a good fit for mid-power bikes. Hopefully the workgroup can consider the pros as well as the cons for these things and come up with a system that prevents kids from riding them while also appropriately regulating legitimate use by people 16 or older. As one e-moto rider put it to me: “I think these bikes are really important for the future of transportation in busy cities like Seattle — would be pretty sweet to not feel like an outlaw every time I go to the grocery store.”
The biggest losses this session were failed bills to create stronger complete streets policies at the state level and to create a system of “presumed liability” for civil cases following collisions involving vulnerable road users. The good news is that neither bill was voted down, and each one passed one of the two chambers. But in this short session, they joined the vast graveyard of bills that died awaiting committee action or votes. WA Bikes said in an email to supporters that they plan to push for new versions of these bills next year.