Bikes on Caltrain?

[Transit-Ranter]

There is usually one bike-car for each train. There is rack space for 32 bikes, and there are 32 seats, in the bike portion of those cars.

Why did Caltrain recently remove all the yellow-and-black signs explaining that the seats in the bike-cars were for bicycle riders?   •••   Should those signs be reinstated?   •••   Should bikers stop using deodorant in protest?     ;-))

CALTRAIN, please reinstate some kind of advisory signs about seating and bike cars...

Non-bike riders on Caltrain have no clue, without those signs. It's very inconvenient when non-cyclists are taking up too many seats, during peak-commuting hours, and the bike riders must sit in other cars far from their bikes. Bikes need to be moved sometimes, when an occasional rider does not have a destination tag, and bikes are not stacked in order.

Sometimes, there are two bike cars, one near the engine, and one at the end, but how do the riders know? You have to ask, if you can find a conductor. Could there not be a bike-car indicator that riders could see from either end of the train?

Got a comment about bikes on Caltrain? Post below...

[Bill van Erp]

My rant is about bikers who decline the opporturnity to put their bikes on the racks on Caltrain, but just stand there blocking the aisle station after station. Come on you guys! It's not rocket science, get out of the way.

[Transit-Ranter]

I guess it's human nature to consider only one's own convenience, but when sharing transit space with others, it's important to regard the efficiency of the whole, as well as that of the individual.

"I know you think it's more convenient to just stand there, but did you consider how inconvenient it is for others while you are doing so?" Politely said, may be the key...

I also noticed this happening this morning, on Caltrain.

[295bus]

Is there an actual reason why there are so few spaces for bikes on the Bombardier (new) cars?

There's even a bunch of empty space, where they could fit in another bike rack if they wanted to (I know it would fit, because the other day, when trains were late and crowded, the conductors were nice for a change and let a few of us stack extra bikes there).

I've asked conductors about this and they don't seem to know.

I thought I overheard something about federal regulations once. Is there any truth to this? Or is it just the PCJPB being stupid on their own?

[Transit-Ranter]

@ 295bus: Interesting questions...


PCJPB

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB, or JPB for short) is the governing body for the Caltrain Peninsula commuter rail transit service between San Francisco, San Jose and Gilroy. http://www.bayrailalliance.org/pcjpb

http://www.caltrain.com/info_board.html
The board of directors meets the first Thursday of the month at 10 a.m. in the Edward J. Bacciocco Auditorium located on the second floor at the San Mateo County Transit District Administrative Offices, 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos. The office is located two blocks west of the San Carlos Caltrain Station. The agenda is available approximately one week before the meeting. Comments to the board may be submitted to [e-mail], by fax at 650.508.6281 or by writing to 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos, CA, 94070-1306. Comments not pertaining to the board should be directed through our contact page. http://www.caltrain.com/contact.html

[Annilita]

I agree. Why can't there be more room for bikes on the Bullet trains. I was bumped off a early morning train and it has made me walk so that I do not get bumped. It is not even the summer yet. I have taken the train to commute for 10 yrs and it is really getting discouraging to take the train.

[Transit-Ranter]

Please explain. Bumped off?

[Cyclelicious]

The latest newsletter on the train explained that Caltrain learned that making the bike car for cyclists only actually violated some sort of federal law, which stipulates that seats on public transportation may not be reserved. It sounds kind of hokey and doesn't make any sense.

[Transit-Ranter]

I agree with you Cyclelicious, if they can reserve seats for the elderly, for handicapped, why not for cyclists?

There are many good reasons why bike riders need to sit near their bikes... sometimes bikes need to be moved around when a non-desitnatiion-tagged bike gets stacked in the wrong order. Recently I had to sit two cars away from my bike, all seats were taken, and it looked like half of the seats in the bike car were taken by non-bike-riders. People carrying luggage like to sit near their luggage, too...

When all the seats in the bike car are full, I've recently been announcing clearly "There are 32 seats and racks for 32 bikes, please don't sit in the bike car if you don't have a bike."

Which reminds me, when was the last time you saw any blank yellow tags? I had to go to the ticke office in SF to get one.

[Bill van Erp]

It seems to me like a lot of these issues could be solved if the train conductors would actually do their jobs: keeping non-bikers out of the bike cars, directing people with luggage to the luggage car, making sure all bikes have destination tags, and stuff like that.

The best conductors do all that and make everyone feel welcome and secure on Caltrain. My nomination for most bike friendly conductor is Robert.

[Transit-Ranter]

@ Bill,

The conductors must abide by the rules set up by management. Most of the yellow and black signs (about seating on bike cars) have now been removed... that's what inspired me to start this network here on Ning.com.

Cyclelicious wrote "The latest newsletter on the train explained that Caltrain learned that making the bike car for cyclists only actually violated some sort of federal law, which stipulates that seats on public transportation may not be reserved." I agree - that sounds fishy.

Some cyclists recently commented that they thought Caltrain management was trying to "get rid of the bikes."

What's up with that?

My nomination for best morning conductor is Zack, he is conscientious, effective, and even has a very good sense of humor. One morning he greeted us at San Antonio station saying, "Smile, it's Monday!"

Meanwhile... thanks for the link, Bicycle Blog Cyclelicious !

[Bill van Erp]

Today the 280 train going south ran out of power in Millbrae. The conductor told all the passengers and the bikers to get out of the train. Everyone went across the tracks and all the passengers, but not the bikers, crowded onto the following train that had been single tracked into the station. That train left. The bikers waited, then watched the dead train come to life and leave the station heading south. One by one everyone realized that no one from Caltrain was going to take charge so the bikers trooped back over the tracks and waited for the next train going south.

When it arrived only half of the bikers could get on and some of the ones who were left got mad at the conductor. The conductor didn't know why the bikers were stranded so he was businesslike, but unsympathetic.

I got home an hour late and felt sorry for the stranded bikers and the conductor who had the take the abuse. I also thought about how much better the whole situation could have been handled if someone from Caltrain had actually kept track of the stranded bikers and helped them get back on the train.

Then I felt sorry for myself because I had to pay a lot of money for this experience.

[Kevin]

As I have said on other parts of this website and loudly to uninterested conductors, I wish there was more consistency regarding which kind of train was on which route and how many bike cars there are. For that matter, there doesn't seem to be much consistency regarding how many CARS a given train has. When there is consistent capacity on a given route, the public will adjust without much complaint. I have been told there is not room on a train a few times which is irritating because the day before there were two bike cars. I think there is definite positive trend toward bicycling. I see more and more noobs standing on the platforms asking me how it all works. Caltrain is going to have to listen the Zeitgeist sooner or later.