No, you just drop the arm and roll the bike off the end. It's a little awkward, but if your town uses the racks like DC Metro does there's a fair amount of room between the bikes.

I take everything off that could bounce loose, or be snatched, like GPS, water bottles, etc. Never an issue leaving the lights on the bike

I've never had an issue, and that includes connector busses to the park and ride that careen down the beltway at 70mph.