The Simi Valley City Council’s adoption of its 2025 Bicycle Master Plan is a clear step in the right direction— one that recognizes how residents actually move today and how they will need to move tomorrow.
For a community long defined by the automobile, this plan signals a thoughtful pivot toward a more balanced, multimodal transportation network.
The proposal’s emphasis on protected Class IV cycle tracks along corridors such as Los Angeles Avenue and Tapo Street is especially encouraging. Physically separated lanes are not cosmetic upgrades; they are proven safety infrastructure that can reduce collisions, increase ridership and make cycling a viable option for commuters, students and families. Coupled with expanded Class II lanes and stronger connections to the Arroyo Simi Greenway, the plan begins to knit together what has historically been a fragmented system.
In short, this is smart planning aligned with broader policy and funding realities.
But for all its strengths, the plan does not go far enough in confronting the most immediate and fast-evolving challenge on local streets and sidewalks: the rise of electric bicycles.
City officials are right to update regulations and emphasize public education. Yet regulation alone will not solve what is, at its core, a cultural and behavioral issue. Across Simi Valley and neighboring communities, the sight of teenagers operating high-speed e-bikes on sidewalks— often without regard for pedestrians or basic traffic laws—has become common. For many residents, it is no longer a nuisance; it is a genuine safety concern.
This is where a stronger call to action is needed, and it must be directed squarely at parents. Too many young riders are being handed powerful machines without the most fundamental instruction in safe operation. Parents should be teaching not only the rules of the road, but also the responsibilities that come with speed and mass—yielding to pedestrians, respecting traffic controls and understanding that an e-bike is not a toy.
Infrastructure can guide behavior, and enforcement can correct it. But neither can replace engaged, accountable parenting.
Simi Valley’s bicycle master plan lays an important foundation. Now the community must match that investment with vigilance, education and personal responsibility—before preventable accidents turn today’s promise into tomorrow’s regret.
