Advocacy & Safety - Is your Public Transit Bike Friendly?

Our in-town buses can carry two bikes on a front rack. The county wide buses can hold three bikes on a front rack. The big buses going to San Francisco have either two-bike racks or one luggage compartment for bikes. With strict limits some of the long-distance buses will let bikes in back. During off-peak hours the rapid transit trains will let a few bikes, with the proper permit, ride in the back car or so I am told.

How about in your area?

The buses all have racks for 2 bikes on the front, if the bus isn't crowded, they'll let you take a third bike on in the back of the bus.

The light rail trains allow 6 bikes on each train, even during rush hour. :)

I took my bike on the light rail to my last interview. (I start mid-January!)

Our buses allow for 2 bikes, which isn't enough these days. Riders with bikes often have to wait some time for a bus to stop with a space open on certain routes and times. Our light rail has 4-8 bike hooks per train. Except for the older, higher cars, I have never seen bikes be turned away from boarding. One summer evening there were 18 of us in one car during rush hour. As long as the wheelchair door isn't blocked, fellow passengers tend to be amazingly polite about it. The train operators don't seem to care as long as other passengers aren't complaining. I do hope they come up with a light rail car design that "officially" holds more bikes than 4. It seems like every year there are more bike commuters who use it.

You guys have a very liberal bike policy on light rail that I envy. Our lightrail will not allow bikes during rush hour unless it's a folding bike. Our bus story is totally different.

I read once that Jersey City has the most bus usage in the entire USA! If it's not, this city is certainly one of the top 5 because every avenue has a one or three bus lines that go right through. Unfortunately, not a single bus line has a bike rack which is incredible.

San Diego buses have improved greatly. Now all buses have bike racks, unlike the past. However, there are so many cyclists in San Diego, two racks often are not enough. Sometimes, with lack of regular buses, that can cause long waits; should you want to board your bus. Now, the commuter trains are very bike friendly. That is to be appreciated.

My job has me traveling quite a bit so I get to see the various mass transit systems, typically buses. The town I live in is too small for mass transit (12sq miles) I have been in Charleston, SC for the past several months, all of their buses have front racks and I would say they are well utilized, I have no idea if they will allow bikes on the bus itself, I will have to find out. Greenville, SC also has racks on MOST of their buses, I only saw occasional use of them. Fayetteville, NC has racks on some buses and I have never seen them in use. I know in Charleston I will quite often see 2-3 bikes waiting at the bus stop and the bus pulling up has a bike already in the rack. Most of the bikes are cruisers or low end MTB, so at least they are being utilized.

Aaron:)

Our in-town buses can carry two bikes on a front rack. The county wide buses can hold three bikes on a front rack. The big buses going to San Francisco have either two-bike racks or one luggage compartment for bikes. With strict limits some of the long-distance buses will let bikes in back. During off-peak hours the rapid transit trains will let a few bikes, with the proper permit, ride in the back car or so I am told.

How about in your area?

All of the transit buses in Pierce, King, Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties ( the most urbanized part of the state ) have racks with space for at least two bicycles. Many have room for three bikes. In and around Seattle, especially during rush hour, the racks are often full. You can't bring your bike in the bus even during non-rush hour. Amtrak trains have bike racks but you have to pay extra to use them. I'm not sure about the commuter trains.

Most buses around town cam hold two bikes on their racks. And bikes are allowed on trains even during peak hours.

Our in-town buses can carry two bikes on a front rack. The county wide buses can hold three bikes on a front rack. The big buses going to San Francisco have either two-bike racks or one luggage compartment for bikes. With strict limits some of the long-distance buses will let bikes in back. During off-peak hours the rapid transit trains will let a few bikes, with the proper permit, ride in the back car or so I am told.

How about in your area?

Ours are just starting, then ran a pilot project for a year, and decided it was a good idea, so all new buses will come with racks, but older buses will not be retrofitted, don't know if they will retrofit the ones they bought in the last year since the pilot started or not. The problem is that this does nothing for those who use the subway or streetcars, where generally bikes are permitted, during off-peak times. However bike parking at subway stations is generally good, and bike lockers are available for a monthly fee. Personally, I would like to be able to rent one, on an occassional basis, but that is something that will happen in the future....

None of the buses in the city have bike racks. Here, the buses stop running at 6PM and they come by at most every 30 minutes, that leads me to believe they aren't really all that people friendly either. I think I've ridden the buses once, when I was maybe 5, so it's been 15 years. Even if I didn't have a car, it would still be quicker to bike than to wait on our buses. It probably wouldn't be hard to talk them into letting your bike on though, there isn't a lot of riders on them most of the time.

^^^
Where do you live? The buses stop running at 6.00 pm? Do they roll up the sidewalks as well :eek: ?

East Hill

All the busses here have bicycle racks. I've never had to use them, and they rarely appear full. But they are available.

A bike rack on a Houston METRO bus? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I've heard they're "talking about it." Ya know how that goes :(

Our Metrolink commuter trains here in the LA area have a special place for bikes. They can hold two bikes. Just be sure to enter at the the doors that has a picture of a bike.

The down side? The conductor can throw you off if they need the bike space for passengers.

This is why I take my folder if I ride the train. I keep it at my feet. Folders can't be thrown off.

I don't want to be thrown out on the mean streets of East Anaheim!

:D

When I first moved to Corona in 1981, asked why the busses didn't have racks (they did in San Diego). Only a few did. Now I believe they all do. Progress...

I have never personally taken my bike on an Alameda County bus, but I believe that it is indeed bike friendly.

Our local train system, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), is very bike friendly, except for rush hour (which is when bikes aren't allowed). It is awesome because BART is an absolutely fast, cheap way to take my bike into the city for a bike ride from San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. Any Bike Forum members that have ridden BART will probably have the same attitude.

You guys have a very liberal bike policy on light rail that I envy.

It's true, we do. The Portland area has a long and rich tradition of citizen groups getting what they want, starting back in the '70's when they thwarted the installation of new freeways and actually ripped one out of downtown. I think this has something to do with it. There would be candlelight vigils outside of Tri-Met headquarters and protest skits at light rail stops. No elected official or Tri-Met employee would want to go through that. We used to have to purchase a $5 one-time "bike pass" to bring a bike on Tri-Met. They did away with that, so now there's really no restrictions other than 2 bikes to a bus and don't make a pest of yourself or your bike on the train.

Now if the bike riding craze spread through the "entrenched corrupt" class of the elected official/public employee of urban America in the East and Midwest, you'd be set. :rolleyes:

How about in your area?

There is nothing. The CAT(Central Arkansas Transit) says they are working on getting racks but stymied by lack of funding.

^^^
Where do you live? The buses stop running at 6.00 pm? Do they roll up the sidewalks as well :eek:

Pretty much in Little Rock. The last bus for downtown where I live leaves at 5:26pm. The last bus going out leaves at 5:15pm If I do transfers, I can leave as late as 8:00

they had front racks, but have moved back to under-carriage bike loading here in s nj (bus)

No racks. And once the asswipe bus driver came with-in inches of sideswiping me.

No racks on buses and no bikes allowed on the Metro during rush hour. However the bus drivers are considerate towards cyclists.

^^^
Where do you live? The buses stop running at 6.00 pm? Do they roll up the sidewalks as well :eek: ?


In a backwards city of 120,000 :D

DC area:
- bike racks on all Metro buses. no bike racks on "The Bus" (Montgomery County) or the Fairfax connector buses
- no bikes on the Metro during rush hour and four bikes to a train in special parts of the train only on off-peak hours (except for folding bikes of course)
- bike racks and lockers at all metro stations. the lockers are the best bet for obvious reasons, and very secure, although the process for reserving one for rental is long and beauracrary-laden.

so public transit bike-friendliness here is a mixed bag, really. there's some good and some bad.

Portland MAINE: The primary bus system, METRO, has 2-bike racks on all buses, but I'm not sure about the smaller systems run by surrounding towns. I've used METRO's a couple of times, no problems. I'm not aware of any time of day restrictions. We're not big enough to have any light rail.

Our Metrolink commuter trains here in the LA area have a special place for bikes. They can hold two bikes. Just be sure to enter at the the doors that has a picture of a bike.

The down side? The conductor can throw you off if they need the bike space for passengers.
Wow, thanks for the heads up! I can see them not letting you board a crowded train, but I think once you're on, they should let you stay on.

I've taken the Metrolink from OC to downtown LA in the early morning hours a few times. I'd hate to unexpectedly get thrown off in Commerce!

I pushed for bike racks on the TTC here in Toronto and, after the pilot project was completed not long ago, they have announced they are expanding the program to the entire network (the largest surface area bus system in North America) within two years. The funny thing is, even though I pushed for them, none of my bikes will fit on the racks. I ride a Bike E semi-recumbent, a trike, a chopper or an 8 foot custom-made cruiser.

Our subway system allows for bikes on trains during non rush-hours, but I don't see many people doing that as the routes I ride are easily traveled by bike, so why ride a train when you can ride.

Bike rack on all the busses here. When the program first started out there was very little usage (the racks used to be removed from the busses during the winter months to preserve them but no longer is that done). Now they're very popular.

Also Dayton had a program during the summer months where you could ride for free if you brought your bike. This was to promote the usage of the racks but of course the bike had to be in obvious working condition and be ridable. Alas, this was discontinued this year probably due to the escalating fuel prices. I'm suprized they didn't have fuel surcharges since gas (and diesel) were over $3/gal. last summer.

I don't tend to use the public transit in conjunction with my bike and I typically only ride (in Boston) buses and the orange and blue lines, but what I've seen:

The "crosstown" buses in Boston seem to nearly all have bike racks on the front. A few other lines occassionally have racks. The older diesel buses would just be a pain to bring a bike onto, imho. Just not enough space, even at off-peak hours. The newer, lower-down CNG buses it's comparatively easier to bring a bike onto. I believe the policy is, officially, no bikes on buses but it depends on the driver (just like the "no dogs except service dogs" policy). As for trains... I've seen bikes on the LRV/Green Line trolleys, and seen bikes and taken my bike on the subway. The policy seems to be, "on off-peak hours, fine" or at the discretion of the operator. Again, same policy on the commuter rail trains. I've heard of the new bike-friendly commuter rail cars, but never used them or been on them.

I'm sure someone else here has more experience with the Boston T than I.

Thanks for all the responses. My 700x38 tires are a squeeze for the hook that holds the bike in place. When it does not fit easily I am strong enough to force it to fit even if the hook comes out of its sleeve. I just jam the hook rod back in the sleeve and the internal spring holds things together. I report the problem to the driver so it can be repaired. In four months the bus rack has been full only once when it got to me. And once the rack was full when another cyclist wanted to get on. He looked even tireder then I was so I got off and let him have my slot. It was only another 8 miles to home anyway.

no bikes on the buses, but subways and commuter trains let you take bikes, but only on certain cars. And the subways don't let you take them rush hour.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/BicycleTrain.jpg

These are some pics of a train I saw while I was in Italy, with the Navy.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/BikeTrain.jpg

I like the way the railroad put Bicycle icons, or idiograms, on the side of the train.

I wish the Long Island RR would do the same. Yes, bikes are allowed on the train, but there is no special car for us.
I have a Long Island Rail Road bike pass. The conductor always asks to see it.
Bikes are not allowed on peak AM (going into New York City) or peak PM trains (eastbounds leaving NYC between 4:00 and 8:00 PM).

ps:
it will take about 1 hour 30 minutes (90 mins) to use public transit to/from work.
it takes me, by bicycle, 45 to 55 minutes to ride to work, each way...
i can drive my car (40 mpg), get to/from work in about 15-20 mins, each way...
public transit is way behind, here in s nj!

Philadelphia: every bus has a front rack that holds 2 bikes, our subways/els and regional rail (light rail, I guess) permit bikes at all times except rush hour: roughly 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

This works great for me because I'm a teacher (I get in before rush hour and leave before rush hour) but it kind of sucks for people in 9-5 jobs who want to bring their bikes on public trans.

RTD in Denver has racks on all busses and allow bikes on the Light Rail (with permit) on a space available basis. The only issue I've ever had with the busses is that a bike with a low-rider rack won't easily fit on the rack. The front rack interferes with the wheel hook. I have used the bus several times with irreparable breakdowns or during one of our biblical thunderstorms.

DC area:
- bike racks on all Metro buses. no bike racks on "The Bus" (Montgomery County) or the Fairfax connector buses
- no bikes on the Metro during rush hour and four bikes to a train in special parts of the train only on off-peak hours (except for folding bikes of course)
- bike racks and lockers at all metro stations. the lockers are the best bet for obvious reasons, and very secure, although the process for reserving one for rental is long and beauracrary-laden.

so public transit bike-friendliness here is a mixed bag, really. there's some good and some bad.

Regarding the folding bikes, during rush hour they must be in a bag.

Yes in San Francisco.

No in Dallas, where I was located the past 5 years. Their transit system in general sucks.

We hardly have a transit system. I think there are six buses serving a town of 50k. But, I seem to remember that two of them have bike racks.

Our buses allow for 2 bikes, which isn't enough these days. Riders with bikes often have to wait some time for a bus to stop with a space open on certain routes and times. Our light rail has 4-8 bike hooks per train. Except for the older, higher cars, I have never seen bikes be turned away from boarding. One summer evening there were 18 of us in one car during rush hour. As long as the wheelchair door isn't blocked, fellow passengers tend to be amazingly polite about it. The train operators don't seem to care as long as other passengers aren't complaining. I do hope they come up with a light rail car design that "officially" holds more bikes than 4. It seems like every year there are more bike commuters who use it.
MAX trains only have four bike hooks per car, but bikes are allowed in the handicapped spots if no one with a disability is using them. Some operators are cool with additional bikes, others are not. For the record, ZooBomb has gotten ~80 bikes in a single car MAX train.

My hometown's area in SE WA state had roughly 100K people living in 5 towns clustered around the Columbia River. Yet, the mass transit was quite pathetic. Hence the reason you either had a car or biked.
RTD is much better. I have yet to see a bus without a bike rack on it (except the mall ride. Why the heck would I want to use it anyhow?). There have been buses with non functional bike racks from time to time.
I use a bus route that runs every 8 to 15 minutes from downtown or a lightly used light rail line depending upon the days temps. The light rail does require a bike permit.

Toronto Transit Commission - the transit agency in Toronto proper - allows bikes on buses, streetcars and subways at off-peak hours and at any time on buses with bike racks. They are planning to eventually have a bike rack on every bus. But GO transit, serving the Greater Toronto Area and a bit beyond - bans bikes almost everywhere (they are allowed only on trains - not buses - and only at off-peak hours, but there are hardly any trains during off-peak hours!) Ironically, I would've preferred it the other way around, since I can bike to anywhere in Toronto by myself, but would've appreciated the ability to take a bike to my parents' place some 60 km away.

MAX trains only have four bike hooks per car, but bikes are allowed in the handicapped spots if no one with a disability is using them. Some operators are cool with additional bikes, others are not. For the record, ZooBomb has gotten ~80 bikes in a single car MAX train.

I must have good MAX karma, then. I've never heard a word from an operator about stuffing the train full of bikes all the times I've been on it.

Some of our buses have bike racks and some don't. I've never tried them because I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to figure out how to use them with all those people getting impatient waiting for me to struggle. Plus with the stuff I carry my bike might be to heavy to lift and I have bolted the panier on to the rack so I can't simply remove it. I have wished they would have a bus with a rack at certain local special events so that you could practice first.

All buses here have 2-bike racks. Unfortunately, they are often full, even in mid-winter.

We have a real funny situation here. We have a program to get all the buses fitted with bike racks but then they found out that if all the buses were outfitted with racks they would no longer fit in the bus yard so the program has been halted. They are making plans to build a new bus parking facility but we don’t know yet if it will allow for buses with racks. We also have a long way to go to get bikes on MARK trains. I believe our subway and light rail allows bikes during non rush hour.

My idea of bike friendly transit is anything that treats cyclists like legitimate traffic (i.e. no right hooking, gunning by just to immediately stop, etc). Fortunately, that's easy to find.

You must be talking about my city. The big three (Chyrsler, G.M. and Ford) punish people for using public transportation. The city buses, when they show up do not have bike racks, nor do they plan on adding them. The out of city buses have bike racks that hold up to two bikes. As a result of the added bike racks the ridership increased twenty-five per cent. The response from the out-of- city buses was to reduce the number of buses. In addition the bus drivers make their dislike of cyclists well known in the following ways 1. refuse to assist cyclists who do not know how to use the racks 2. Talk about those passengers in a loud negative manner 3. Pass them up. And they(government officals) wonder why we are the heavist city in the country.




Gas, the price of a can of beans.

north San Diego County: NCTD "Breeze" bus system has a very nice 2-bike rack on every front bumper.

San Diego Northern Railroad's Coast Express Rail ("Coaster") 28 coaches each hold 2 to 6 bikes, with convenient roll-on access through wide double doors. In 1989 and 1990, my half day per month on the Citizens' Technical Advisory Board was well-spent. :)

The buses here also have hookups for 2 bikes. The trouble is that the buses only go around town. No matter where they go, I can generally beat them on a bicycle. Now if they went to the neighboring towns, we might have something that I could actually use...

I use a bus route that runs every 8 to 15 minutes from downtown or a lightly used light rail line depending upon the days temps. The light rail does require a bike permit.
I'm holding my breath for that light rail to connect to Fort Collins...

Last I heard: 2-3 years.

Regarding the folding bikes, during rush hour they must be in a bag.

There's one of those little nusance rules that drives me up the wall. In a bag or not, it is still the same object. The bag isn't going to make things any different or not.

-Kurt