Sunshine Coast groups warn: Law-abiding riders set to pay the price for illegal e-bikes.
The Caloundra Residents Association (CRA) and the Sunshine Coast Bicycle User Group (SCBUG) are urging the Queensland Government not to proceed with two deeply flawed e-mobility recommendations that would punish legal riders when the real problem is the rapid rise of illegal, high-powered devices. This would be at significant cost to active transport uptake, congestion reduction, accessibility, affordability, and road safety.
Both organisations strongly support most Inquiry recommendations — including tougher enforcement against illegal devices and unsafe behaviour, infrastructure investment and stronger battery standards – and the Government’s rejection of Recommendation 11 to define all e-devices as motor vehicles.
But the proposed 10 km/h blanket footpath speed limit and mandatory licensing for compliant e-bike riders are disproportionate, unworkable, and counterproductive.
Why the recommended rules won’t work.
A 10 km/h limit makes riding less safe.
A blanket 10 km/h cap would make compliant e-bikes unstable, force riders off safe shared paths and onto busy and high-speed roads like Nicklin Way and Caloundra Road and effectively shut down every day e-bike mobility for seniors, people with disabilities, non-drivers, and one-car households.
It could also unintentionally apply to Queensland’s entire network of shared paths, foreshore walkways, and rail trails — effectively banning commuting and tourism riding in these areas across the state — the opposite of the Government's stated transport and congestion-reduction objectives.
Licensing legal e-bike riders is not currently justified.
Requiring riders of compliant e-bikes to hold at least a Queensland Class C learner licence would unfairly impact elderly riders, people with disabilities, low-income earners, students, migrant workers, interstate, and international visitors. This is despite there being no evidence that compliant e-bike users pose greater risk than ordinary cyclists, who do not require a licence.
This creates an impossible scenario ahead of the 2032 Olympics, when tens of thousands of visitors would be legally unable to hire or ride an e-bike or e-scooter.
Local impact
With cost-of-living pressures, soaring transport costs and limited public transport options, legal e-mobility is one of the few affordable alternatives to car dependence. For many residents e-mobility is not a recreational choice but a transport necessity.
Caloundra is undergoing multiple major transport upgrades — a time-critical chance to integrate separated e-mobility paths.
We congratulate Kendall Morton on initiating the Connect Caloundra Forum following our discussions with her, to help ensure integrated connected road, public and active transport. The proposed restrictions risk squandering this opportunity and pushing more riders into dangerous traffic environments.
Call to Government
CRA and SCBUG jointly urge the Queensland Government to:
Reject the blanket 10 km/h footpath limit (Recommendation 14).
Reject licensing requirements for compliant riders (Recommendation 13) unless a full Regulatory Impact Assessment shows clear safety benefits which can’t be achieved via a less impactful approach.
Focus enforcement on illegal, high-powered, and modified devices.
Invest in separated infrastructure and statewide education programs such as the Sunshine Coast’s Scoot2School initiative.
Both organisations stand ready to work with the Government, TMR, councils and community partners to refine reforms so they improve safety without undermining the enormous public benefits of legal e-mobility.
Media Contacts:
Caloundra Residents Association Inc – Elisa Weiser, 0490 783 073
Sunshine Coast Bicycle User Group – Craig Humphrey, 0409 605 890
