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10-01-08, 10:40 AM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/30/BA541368SV.DTL
Caltrain board to consider new bike provisions
Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
(09-30) 18:52 PDT -- All Scott Wildy said he was trying to do was get to work, but in the process he became a symbol of the growing frustration and anger among bicyclists who commute on Caltrain.
Biking to and from Caltrain has become so popular that cyclists are regularly kept from boarding when space on the trains for their two-wheelers runs out.
When Wildy boarded a train last week with his bike, he said a conductor told him to get off, that there was no more room. But the 39-year-old Stanford information technology employee found a place to park his bike on a rack and he refused to leave. He ended up in handcuffs and under arrest.
"I just couldn't believe it. I was just trying to catch a train to get to work," Wildy said.
Caltrain, the commuter line that runs from Gilroy to San Francisco, has seen its trains become more crowded as ridership has spiked to nearly 45,000 boardings a day. On Thursday, the agency's governing board will consider a plan on how to deal with the growing number of bicyclists.
No one knows for sure how many bikers get bumped, but in September 2007, the only time Caltrain gathered such data, 51 out of 2,400 cyclists were left behind during a single day. Caltrain representatives and bike advocates say they think the problem has gotten worse.
Caltrain officials insist they're committed to finding a solution. But, said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn, there are no viable quick-fix solutions.
The proposed Bicycle Parking and Access Plan, to be discussed Thursday, outlines a number of suggestions, among them providing more bike parking at the stations, setting up a bike-sharing program, offering patrons subsidies to buy folding bicycles and letting people know before the trains arrive the availability of space on the bike cars.
Under the current system, bikers don't know until their train arrives whether it can handle 16 bikes, 32 or 64 - the available configurations that change from run to run.
"There's always a question when the train comes, 'Am I going to get on?' Not knowing adds to the stress," said Jay Trimble, a computer scientist for NASA who rides his bike, the ferry and Caltrain for the 2 1/2-hour commute between his home in the Marin County town of Fairfax and his job in Mountain View.
Adding to the strain, he said, is a disorganized boarding system that relies on the honor system of first come, first served. Trimble has seen people show up with their bikes at the last minute who cut in front of those who have been waiting. When demand exceeds capacity, the tension builds.
"I've been seeing many unpleasant incidents between bikers and conductors, and sometimes between bikers themselves," said Trimble, 48.
Caltrain officials know there's a problem, which became even more acute over the summer when 14 rail cars were temporarily removed from service because hairline cracks were discovered in the suspension system.
"It's always difficult when you have to tell people, 'Sorry, you can't board the train.' It's frustrating for the bike riders and it's frustrating for us," said Dunn.
Frustration would be a tame way to describe the way Wildy felt last Thursday when he boarded the train with his bicycle at the Burlingame Station for his morning commute to Palo Alto and was ordered off by the conductor because the bike car was full.
He acknowledged that the car was carrying 16 bikes when he boarded, but that only three bikes were strapped into the rack he used, with another space available. A rack at the other end of the car held five bikes, one more than normally allowed. Wildy argued with the conductor, placed his bike in the rack and took a seat.
When the train pulled into the San Carlos Station about 20 minutes later, police were waiting for Wildy. He was arrested for delaying the train, a misdemeanor.
He said he could have complied with the conductor's order and waited for the next train - as he's done in the past - "but I wanted to make a point," Wildy said. "There was capacity on the train."
Caltrain is investigating the incident.
Dunn hopes implementation of the new bike plan will help solve the space-crunch problem. But for now, there's no money to proceed.
The suggestion by some bike advocates to covert more of the existing fleet into bike cars would displace other riders, and isn't something Caltrain is eager to do, Dunn said.
Andy Thornley, program director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said he hopes Caltrain officials rethink that position.
"Most days you have cars pulling away from the station with empty seats, while you've got a bicyclist left behind on the platform with a ticket in hand," he said.
His fear is that if cyclists get bumped enough, they may give up on train travel altogether at a time when government agencies and environmentalists are urging people to give up driving to relieve freeway congestion and reduce air pollution.
Dunn said there is a nugget of good news: Caltrain plans to roll out eight new passenger cars by the end of October, two of them bike cars, which should alleviate the worst of the problem for those cyclists lucky enough to catch one.
Bike proposals
Thursday, Caltrain board members will review the following proposals as part of their Bicycle Parking and Access plan:
-- Expand secure bike parking at the stations - an idea that critics say only works for people who don't bike at both ends of their trip.
-- Create a bike-sharing program where communal bicycles would be available for people to ride to and from the stations.
-- Provide subsidies for people to buy folding bicycles, the number of which is not restricted on the trains, as long as they can be stowed beneath the seats.
-- Set up an automated system that tracks bike capacity on the trains and allow cyclists to tap into that information before they head to the station.
Bike plan showdown
The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which oversees Caltrain, will consider adoption of the proposed Bicycle Parking and Access Plan.
When: 10 a.m. Thursday
Where: 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos, second floor auditorium.
E-mail Rachel Gordon at rgordon@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/01/BA541368SV.DTL
This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Caltrain board to consider new bike provisions
Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
(09-30) 18:52 PDT -- All Scott Wildy said he was trying to do was get to work, but in the process he became a symbol of the growing frustration and anger among bicyclists who commute on Caltrain.
Biking to and from Caltrain has become so popular that cyclists are regularly kept from boarding when space on the trains for their two-wheelers runs out.
When Wildy boarded a train last week with his bike, he said a conductor told him to get off, that there was no more room. But the 39-year-old Stanford information technology employee found a place to park his bike on a rack and he refused to leave. He ended up in handcuffs and under arrest.
"I just couldn't believe it. I was just trying to catch a train to get to work," Wildy said.
Caltrain, the commuter line that runs from Gilroy to San Francisco, has seen its trains become more crowded as ridership has spiked to nearly 45,000 boardings a day. On Thursday, the agency's governing board will consider a plan on how to deal with the growing number of bicyclists.
No one knows for sure how many bikers get bumped, but in September 2007, the only time Caltrain gathered such data, 51 out of 2,400 cyclists were left behind during a single day. Caltrain representatives and bike advocates say they think the problem has gotten worse.
Caltrain officials insist they're committed to finding a solution. But, said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn, there are no viable quick-fix solutions.
The proposed Bicycle Parking and Access Plan, to be discussed Thursday, outlines a number of suggestions, among them providing more bike parking at the stations, setting up a bike-sharing program, offering patrons subsidies to buy folding bicycles and letting people know before the trains arrive the availability of space on the bike cars.
Under the current system, bikers don't know until their train arrives whether it can handle 16 bikes, 32 or 64 - the available configurations that change from run to run.
"There's always a question when the train comes, 'Am I going to get on?' Not knowing adds to the stress," said Jay Trimble, a computer scientist for NASA who rides his bike, the ferry and Caltrain for the 2 1/2-hour commute between his home in the Marin County town of Fairfax and his job in Mountain View.
Adding to the strain, he said, is a disorganized boarding system that relies on the honor system of first come, first served. Trimble has seen people show up with their bikes at the last minute who cut in front of those who have been waiting. When demand exceeds capacity, the tension builds.
"I've been seeing many unpleasant incidents between bikers and conductors, and sometimes between bikers themselves," said Trimble, 48.
Caltrain officials know there's a problem, which became even more acute over the summer when 14 rail cars were temporarily removed from service because hairline cracks were discovered in the suspension system.
"It's always difficult when you have to tell people, 'Sorry, you can't board the train.' It's frustrating for the bike riders and it's frustrating for us," said Dunn.
Frustration would be a tame way to describe the way Wildy felt last Thursday when he boarded the train with his bicycle at the Burlingame Station for his morning commute to Palo Alto and was ordered off by the conductor because the bike car was full.
He acknowledged that the car was carrying 16 bikes when he boarded, but that only three bikes were strapped into the rack he used, with another space available. A rack at the other end of the car held five bikes, one more than normally allowed. Wildy argued with the conductor, placed his bike in the rack and took a seat.
When the train pulled into the San Carlos Station about 20 minutes later, police were waiting for Wildy. He was arrested for delaying the train, a misdemeanor.
He said he could have complied with the conductor's order and waited for the next train - as he's done in the past - "but I wanted to make a point," Wildy said. "There was capacity on the train."
Caltrain is investigating the incident.
Dunn hopes implementation of the new bike plan will help solve the space-crunch problem. But for now, there's no money to proceed.
The suggestion by some bike advocates to covert more of the existing fleet into bike cars would displace other riders, and isn't something Caltrain is eager to do, Dunn said.
Andy Thornley, program director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said he hopes Caltrain officials rethink that position.
"Most days you have cars pulling away from the station with empty seats, while you've got a bicyclist left behind on the platform with a ticket in hand," he said.
His fear is that if cyclists get bumped enough, they may give up on train travel altogether at a time when government agencies and environmentalists are urging people to give up driving to relieve freeway congestion and reduce air pollution.
Dunn said there is a nugget of good news: Caltrain plans to roll out eight new passenger cars by the end of October, two of them bike cars, which should alleviate the worst of the problem for those cyclists lucky enough to catch one.
Bike proposals
Thursday, Caltrain board members will review the following proposals as part of their Bicycle Parking and Access plan:
-- Expand secure bike parking at the stations - an idea that critics say only works for people who don't bike at both ends of their trip.
-- Create a bike-sharing program where communal bicycles would be available for people to ride to and from the stations.
-- Provide subsidies for people to buy folding bicycles, the number of which is not restricted on the trains, as long as they can be stowed beneath the seats.
-- Set up an automated system that tracks bike capacity on the trains and allow cyclists to tap into that information before they head to the station.
Bike plan showdown
The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which oversees Caltrain, will consider adoption of the proposed Bicycle Parking and Access Plan.
When: 10 a.m. Thursday
Where: 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos, second floor auditorium.
E-mail Rachel Gordon at rgordon@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/01/BA541368SV.DTL
This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle