NJ Transit has a change of heart about bicycles

[neilfein]

(Apologies if this has been posted here before, but I can't find it anywhere.)

From WalkBikeJerseyBlog:

...NJ Transit has quietly changed its policy regarding bicycles on trains that will severely limit those wishing to take there bicycles with them on their next trip. Without any outreach or notification to bicycle advocacy organizations, NJ Transit is now restricting bicycle access to all of its stations that do not have a high-level platform, including the key Hoboken Terminal. That ends up putting nearly half of NJ Transit's 163 commuter rail train stations out of reach for cyclists looking to take their bikes. On some lines, a majority of stations are off-limits!

In other words, you can't board a train with a full-frame bike if it has no platform (i.e., if you have to walk up the stairs to get in the train), even during non-peak hours.

Having heard about this just after getting home from Portland, I'm frankly embarrassed on behalf of my home state at this repressive, backwards policy. NJ Transit needs to be made aware that this policy needs to be changed.

To that end, here's a petition you can sign. Be nice, and simply tell them why this is a problem; if you're nasty or insulting, that will make us look like idiots.

(Mods, any objection if I also post this to the commuting forum?)

[1nterceptor]

Just signed the petition, even though I've never
taken NJ trains. Although I take the Path train
all the time with my bike. I get on from the 33st
station in NYC and get off in the Hoboken station.
Roadbike, only during off-peak period following their
policy.

[Papa Tom]

I also signed the petition, although I only use NJ Transit about half a dozen times per year. Here's what I wrote in the Personal Response box:

Several times each summer, my wife and I take the train into Hoboken to ride the Waterfront Walkway to Liberty State Park. Driving to Hoboken from Long Island is out of the question, as traffic and parking are horrendous. While in this part of NJ, we always spend about $100 on lunch, dinner, dessert, and other miscellaneous items. Without bicycle access to Hoboken, this trip is over and the merchants of the Hoboken to Liberty area lose our business. Multiply this by the many other daytrippers who do the same and NJ Transit will be doing a serious disservice to communities that it serves.

[opal]

I assume it's partly(?) safety-related i.e. I wonder if people have gotten hurt (or worse, inconvenienced others ) carrying bikes up and down the train stairs. Do we know when this took effect and if it's being enforced? I don't commute by NJT/bike and have only taken my bike on a few times for leisure in the last few months. Suppose I get on and after the train leaves, they check my ticket and it's for a low platform station, they are either going to make me get off at an earlier station or not let me off when we get to my station?

As for the PATH, I get that some sort of crowd/traffic control is needed, but it still seems a bit arbitrary. Technically the morning rush hour begins at 6:30, but even at 7, some train cars are practically empty. (I don't do it often but so far I haven't been directly confronted...) Sometimes, weekend trains, which run less frequently, can even be more crowded. It makes no logical sense if the goal is to restrict bikes when space is scarce.

[neilfein]

I assume it's partly(?) safety-related i.e. I wonder if people have gotten hurt (or worse, inconvenienced others ) carrying bikes up and down the train stairs. Do we know when this took effect and if it's being enforced?

A friend of mine who commutes with a full-frame bike during non-peak hours has been told by the conductors that they will be enforcing this very soon.

[indyfabz]

I will post this information and petition link to the BCP email list.

[cranky velocist]

Thank you for alerting everyone to this issue. Bicycles as a tourist attraction & quality of life "perk" in New Jersey should be nurtured toward growth, not discouraged.

Cyclists support often-empty trains in the middle of the day, and it seems (to me) that cyclists could reasonably be expected wait to board trains at the end of the line of passengers so as not to disrupt other passengers.

Below, a copy of my letter.



"I would like it to be known that I only use trains when I have to transport a bicycle, since moving back to New Jersey from out of state last spring. A restriction on bicycles would leave me with no reason to ride the New Jersey trains whatsoever.

I have noticed that, with my bicycle, I am often one of only a few train riders during non-peak hours, supporting otherwise under-utilized public transportation in the middle of the day and late at night.

While it appears to me that my local train station is in compliance with the new regulations, I would like to share with you a consumer behavior I probably share with other potential riders:

I no longer travel to Albany NY from Penn station because of the restriction on bringing a bicycle on that particular train line. Rather, I exercise the option to meet social obligations in New York City instead.

A restriction on bicycles on NJ Transit trains threatens a rapidly growing form of regional tourism & the many local small businesses which serve this expanding state attraction.

Might I suggest an alternative solution? Perhaps a regulation that people with bicycles climb the stairs onto the train at the end of the line of riders would accomplish the same goals?

I urge you reconsider this new restriction on one of my primary recreational activities, which is growing in popularity and helping to invigorate the state economy as an attraction over time.

Thank you for reading my letter."

[Papa Tom]

Good letter. I can't figure out why these transportation companies want to shoot themselves in the foot, either. If I could easily roll my bike aboard any Amtrak train, I'd be taking that service all over the country.

[cranky velocist]

I don't want to get political, but I think its elected officials, not the companies themselves, that are shooting the transit companies in the foot - somebody involved in campagin donations or a large voters' group gets whacked by a back tire one day and bam! no more bikes. Its the only thing I can imagine which would make any sense.

Edit: I've enjoyed Amtrak since the nineties. Apparently the appearing to be a budget cutter is worth many hours' of commuting misery. No snack cars, things like that.

[indyfabz]

I don't want to get political, but I think its elected officials, not the companies themselves, that are shooting the transit companies in the foot - somebody involved in campagin donations or a large voters' group gets whacked by a back tire one day and bam! no more bikes. Its the only thing I can imagine which would make any sense.

Nah. I work in the rail transportation industry. My work involves dealing with NJT on a fairly regular basis. I am sure it's risk management driven, at least in part. Someone slips and fall and injures himself and/or another passenger and you have a law suit on your hands, the cost of which can exceed the estimated revenue loss. (Remember that the new policy only prohibits boarding at stations that do not have high level platforms. I believe that all platforms of NJT-served stations on the Northeast Corridor are high level, so bikes would not be excluded from this major route.) The fact that NJT has changed its policy strongly suggests that it has been subjected to such suits.

[Jared.]

Also, if you noticed over the past few years, when they update a station, they construct them with the high level platform. This is something I've noticed on the coastal line.

It's funny because at the Elizabeth station I have to walk my bike up two flights of stairs to get to the platform. In reality, the extra three steps onto the train are no big deal, but indy is spot on. Risk management is probably playing a huge role in this policy change.

[SBinNYC]

The quickest, easiest and probably safest way to get bikes on or off a train from a low level platform is as follows. There are usually doors at both both ends of commuter cars. So, there will be two doors adjacent to one another. Use one door for passengers and one door for bikes. The bike door will have the trap down as used for a high level platform. The passenger gets off the train, the conductor rolls the bike to the edge of the high level door and hands the bike to the waiting passenger. The process is reversed for getting on the train, the passenger lifts the bike to the waiting conductor, who rolls the bike onto the train. The passenger walks up the stairs and retrieves the bike.

My club used to charter LIRR trains back in the days when there were low level platforms out east. The LIRR consist had some junk coaches that were used to store the bikes. This was the procedure we used for loading and unloading. It was very quick and neither bike nor rider were injured while loading or unloading the bikes.

I was on an NJT Coast Line train with about a dozen other riders about two years ago. We were headed to a low level platform station. I tried to convince the conductor to allow me to unload the bikes using the method described above. Their rules would not allow it. Moving a bike down the stairs is a lot more difficult, time consuming and dangerous than handing it down with the trap down.

[cranky velocist]

Nah. I work in the rail transportation industry. My work involves dealing with NJT on a fairly regular basis. I am sure it's risk management driven, at least in part. Someone slips and fall and injures himself and/or another passenger and you have a law suit on your hands, the cost of which can exceed the estimated revenue loss. (Remember that the new policy only prohibits boarding at stations that do not have high level platforms. I believe that all platforms of NJT-served stations on the Northeast Corridor are high level, so bikes would not be excluded from this major route.) The fact that NJT has changed its policy strongly suggests that it has been subjected to such suits.

Thank you for putting my habitual jumping to conclusions in check.

[geo8rge]

Is there a list of stations that reject bicycles? I know on the Jersey Shore line there are a few low level stations.

[neilfein]

Is there a list of stations that reject bicycles? I know on the Jersey Shore line there are a few low level stations.

This rail system map lists accessible stations, the ones with high-level platforms: http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf

[geo8rge]

Thanks for the heads up on wheelchair accessible being bicycle accessible.

One trick that worked for me is bring a colored plastic painters tarp and some bungie cords. Disassemble the wheels, seat post, and handlebars. Put everything in the tarp and wrap it up secured with the bungie. No conductor has ever complained to me about it. Often I was not the person with the largest package.

[rec3036]

i signed it....

[Dahon.Steve]

i signed it....

It's too late. I suspect there must have been a lawsuit that ended the free bicycle pass. Too bad.

However, folding bikes are given a pass so another bike maybe in order. ;-)

[Dahon.Steve]

I discussed with a conductor today on NJ Trainsit's Pascot Valley line that has low level platforms. His opinion was that I could them to use the handicap lift at the Hoboken station. I'm going to see if this is the case. I think it's nonsense that people are allowed to bring folding bikes which weight just as much as a regular bike.

I wonder if people tried using the Nashbar Transport bag? Do you think it would mess up the derailluer?

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...8#ReviewHeader

[JCFlack]

It isn't the weight that makes folding bikes easier to get on or off a train, it is the more compact shape. I've moved tall bookcases, and I've moved boxes of equal or even greater weight. I can pick up either by myself, but I wouldn't want to carry a bookcase without a helper - size and shape matter.

So, all you NJT riders, buy a folder - problem solved.

[neilfein]

It isn't the weight that makes folding bikes easier to get on or off a train, it is the more compact shape. I've moved tall bookcases, and I've moved boxes of equal or even greater weight. I can pick up either by myself, but I wouldn't want to carry a bookcase without a helper - size and shape matter.

So, all you NJT riders, buy a folder - problem solved.

This would. of course, be ideal. However, some people don't have the option of buying a folder, and even a BSO from wallyworld is a stretch. Wrong-way commuting - where you take a full-frame bike on the train in the opposite direction of peak - is quite practical.

[indyfabz]

So, all you NJT riders, buy a folder - problem solved.

So those of us who take the train rarely have to buy a separate bike? What if I want to take my LHT for some fully loaded touring. What if I am on a road ride and have a mechanical or injury and would like to take the train? (Once or twice, participants in our yearly club ride from New Hope to Brooklyn have used the train in such circumstances to get to Hoboken in order catch the ferry to NYC.)

Here is a better solution: Require a cyclist to wait until all other passengers have boarded or detrained before exiting or entering with a bike. I would even favor legislation making the system immune from suits by cyclists who are injured as a result of getting on or off trains with bikes. Or have a small supplement to cover any additional cost of risk. The ferries from NJ to NYC do this. I think it's a buck or two.

Here in Philly they don't see the need to restrict bikes to stations with high level platforms. What is so special about the NJT situation?

[Dahon.Steve]

It's actually dangerous trying to bring your bike down the high and narrow stairs of the train. I hold my breath each time I'm doing it and almost fell on my face once. What I don't understand is why the conductor does not help in off loading the bikes. On low level platforms, he should require the cyclist to exit the train first and wait on the platform. Then the conductor should lower the bicycle down GENTLY, rear wheel first. The cyclist then grabs the rear of the bicycle until the entire bicycle is off the train.

[neilfein]

It's actually dangerous trying to bring your bike down the high and narrow stairs of the train. I hold my breath each time I'm doing it and almost fell on my face once. What I don't understand is why the conductor does not help in off loading the bikes. On low level platforms, he should require the cyclist to exit the train first and wait on the platform. Then the conductor should lower the bicycle down GENTLY, rear wheel first. The cyclist then grabs the rear of the bicycle until the entire bicycle is off the train.

Conductors on SEPTA have done this for me from time to time, but usually when I have a loaded touring bicycle. It's probably not practical for them to do this all the time; conductors have a lot to do and not much time in which to get it done.

[Dahon.Steve]

I see NJ Transit changed the rules again! I asked about using the handicap lifts at the Hoboken station but as you can see, they quickly eliminated that option.