Memo
To: Oliver Chi, City Manager
From: Caroline Torosis, Mayor
Barry Snell, Councilmember
Dan Hall, Councilmember
Date: January 19, 2026
Re: Request of Mayor Torosis, Councilmember Snell, and Councilmember Hall to Strengthen Safety, Accessibility, and Enforcement on the Santa Monica’s Pedestrian and Bike Paths
The Santa Monica Beach Bike Path is one of the City’s most iconic and heavily used public assets, serving residents, families, seniors, people using mobility devices, commuters, and visitors from around the world. Designed as a shared-use recreational path, it is intended to prioritize safety, accessibility, and low-speed, people-powered mobility in a uniquely sensitive coastal environment.
In recent years, Santa Monica has experienced a growing and persistent problem of privately owned motorized scooters, minibikes, motorcycles, and modified e-bikes operating illegally on the Beach Bike Path and in the surrounding neighborhoods, often at high speeds and in crowded conditions.
These vehicles are not part of the City’s shared mobility programs, are not subject to geofencing or vendor controls, and pose serious risks to pedestrians, cyclists, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
Coastal cities facing similar challenges have found that education and signage alone are insufficient. Jurisdictions such as Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach have adopted stricter local prohibitions and higher penalties for motorized devices on beach paths. Other cities, including San Diego and Miami Beach, have implemented speed-restricted or enforcement zones along boardwalks and coastal paths. Internationally, beach cities in Europe have relied on physical access controls such as bollards and staggered entry points to prevent motorcycles and minibikes from entering shared recreational paths altogether.
Santa Monica already has important tools in place that can be built upon. The Municipal Code prohibits motorized vehicles on pedestrian and bike paths, the City has authority to impound illegally operated vehicles, and Santa Monica is actively piloting technology-based enforcement for bike lanes. What is needed now is a coordinated, layered approach that strengthens penalties, prevents illegal access through design, and uses technology and data to target enforcement efficiently.
This item advances a safety-first strategy that emphasizes prevention over punishment, protects ADA access, reduces reliance on constant police presence, and ensures the Beach Bike Path remains safe, accessible, and welcoming for everyone.
Memo
Therefore, the City Council directs the City Manager, in coordination with the City Attorney to:
1. Enhanced Fines and Impound Authority
Return with proposed amendments to the Santa Monica Municipal Code establishing enhanced, tiered fines for illegal motorized vehicle use on the Beach Bike Path, and clarifying authority for immediate impoundment of prohibited motorized vehicles, including motorcycles, minibikes, motorized scooters, modified e-bikes, and repeat violators, where legally feasible.
2. Administrative and Civil Citation Framework
Evaluate and, where feasible, implement the use of civil administrative citations that are sufficiently high and compound with each violation for Bike Path motorized violations, consistent with existing parking, traffic, and automated enforcement models, to reduce reliance on criminal prosecution and deter illegal behavior.
3. Physical Access Controls and Choke Points
Identify priority access points along the Beach Bike Path and develop, pilot, or implement ADA-compliant physical access controls, such as bollards or staggered barriers, designed to prevent illegal motorized vehicle entry while maintaining access for bicycles, strollers, wheelchairs, and adaptive mobility devices.
4. Signage and Public Notice
Install or upgrade clear, standardized signage at Beach Bike Path access points identifying prohibited vehicles, applicable code sections, fine ranges, impound authority, and notice of technology-based enforcement where applicable.
5. Targeted Enforcement Operations
Conduct focused, high-visibility enforcement operations during peak usage periods, including weekends, holidays, and summer months, to deter illegal motorized activity and reinforce updated rules and penalties.
6. Technology-Based Enforcement Solutions
Explore and recommend technology-based enforcement tools, consistent with Santa Monica’s existing bike lane enforcement program and other national models, including fixed or mobile cameras, with appropriate privacy and data safeguards, to deter, document and cite illegal motorized vehicle use on the Beach Bike Path.
7. Community Reporting and Data-Driven Targeting
Explore feasibility of and recommend options for a community reporting mechanism through an existing City platform or web portal to support data collection, hotspot identification, and enforcement planning, with clear limits that community submissions do not independently trigger citations.
8. Reporting Back to Council
Report back to the City Council within 90 days on the status and recommended implementation of the above actions, including proposed ordinance amendments, pilot locations and costs, enforcement approaches, and a coordinated implementation timeline.