Council Bluffs, IA Mobility & Curb Rules: E-Bike Classes (2026)

The city's Chapter 9.09 defines only one electric bicycle category rather than the Class 1/2/3 tiers some jurisdictions apply to pedal-assist, throttle, and higher-speed models. Under CBMC 9.09.020, an electric bicycle is a two- or three-wheeled device with fully operable pedals and a motor under 750 watts (one horsepower) that cannot exceed 20 miles per hour on motor power alone on a paved, level surface, and that weighs no more than 80 pounds. A device exceeding any of those thresholds, or one with a gasoline engine, falls out of the chapter entirely and must instead carry the registration, insurance, and license the Code of Iowa requires for a motorcycle or motorized bicycle.

Once a device qualifies as an electric bicycle under that definition, CBMC 9.09.030 tells riders where it belongs on the road: it must be operated under Chapter 9.12 of the municipal code, meaning it follows the same rules as an ordinary bicycle rather than the separate restrictions the chapter places on electric scooters and other personal transport vehicles. That distinction matters because Chapter 9.09 bans electric scooters and other personal transport vehicles from the downtown Skateboard Free Zone described in CBMC 9.10.040, but the same paragraph exempts electric bicycles from that specific ban by routing them into the bicycle rules instead.

Chapter 9.09 was adopted by Ordinance 5802 in 2004 and last amended by Ordinance 6459 on July 12, 2021, which updated the definitions and the prohibited-operation section.