The Illinois Secretary of State suggests suburban communities have taken a variety of approaches to e-bikes and e-scooters:

“Several municipalities, particularly in the suburbs have adopted their own rules regarding e-bikes,” Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias told us. “Right now, it’s a hodgepodge or local ordinances and regulations, depending on where you live. That inconsistency is problematic because it makes roads less safe for all of us.”

Suburbs like local control, the ability to set their own local rules and ordinances. In this situation, some have responded to the number of e-bikes and e-scooters with regulations and others have not.

Here are some possible future pathways regarding e-bike and e-scooter regulation, ranked from what I think is most unlikely to happen to what I think is most likely:

1. Suburbs work together to have common rules. They decide the common suburban experience is threatened, whether it could be the safety of riders or difficulties drivers face encountering these vehicles. It would make sense for suburbs sharing borders to have the same rules as it is not always obvious when you are crossing from one suburban community to another. But since suburbs tend not to work together, I do not think this is likely to happen. What might get them to work together? A far-fetched scenario: the city of Chicago says any suburbanites riding e-bikes or e-scooters in the city has to pay an extra tax so suburban communities fight back by saying they allow residents to ride freely in their suburb .`
2. State laws are passed that then take precedence over local regulations. As noted in the editorial, the state can change the classifications for e-bikes and e-scooters. Or perhaps they could adjust roadway rules. A coalition of state lawmakers can come together to address this pressing issue facing suburban and other kinds of communities. This could happen if the political will is there.
3. Suburbs continue to make their own regulations if they want. Perhaps they lobby hard to keep local control or political movement at the state level does not take place. Slowly, more suburbs adopt regulations and it all becomes less of “a hodge-podge” in a few years as consensus emerges about how best to regulate these vehicles.