Petition to WMATA to change their policy regarding bikes during rush hour

Not to be a downer for your initiative, but I’m pretty OK with that rule. Have you ever ridden the metro at rush hour? It’s crammed to the brim in most instances, and it’s tough enough trying to squeeze on with just a briefcase. I’d feel like an ass taking up all that space with a bike I could be riding toward my destination anyway. It’d also be literally impossible to get off when you need to, no joke. and to put yourself near the door wouldn’t help the matter as you’d clog things up more. That’s when the safety issue comes into play, there’s a couple pretty sharp things on a bike, trying to squeeze around one on a swaying train is indeed dangerous; the wheels are at just the right height for someone to fall backward over them as well.

And there’s a good chance with the tight quarters you’ll ruin someone’s clothing with stray bike grease.

Unfortunately it’s inconsistently forced, but that’s the human error factor that makes any rule breakable. I bet if you tried a couple other stations you probably could have slipped on. But that’s beyond the point I guess.

Good luck to you, but I can’t offer my support.

@KLizotte 16559 wrote:

I agree with SpokeGrenade on this. It’s quite possible station managers in outlying stations see few people during the tail end of the restricted hours and thus let cyclists on.

I think it also has to be kept in mind that you simply have to be inside the turnstiles by 4p, it can take some time to traverse the metro system from its far flung corners and it’s quite possible to be coming out easily an hour or so later. While I can understand the frustration of seeing another cyclist leaving the system while you’re waiting to get on, it’s entirely possible that they did so well within its existing restrictions.

Orange Line train at 5:30 with a bike? I’d rather crawl on bloodied knees

Apparently this person has never ridden on the metro at rush hour. This petition is actually a terrible idea. There is no room for the people let alone the bikes. There is no room on the platform. There is no room on the trains. There is no room in the elevators. The station manger was right to stop you. The story quoted is about a totally different transit system with different trains that have room for them.

I wouldn’t have a problem with this if you limited to travel against the flow . . . e.g., if you wanted to go from Foggy Bottom to Vienna in the morning rush.

For my own part, I don’t find it pleasant to take a bike on metro at any time. I took metro home after the 50 States Ride last fall. I had to wait through four cycles of the elevator to even enter the system at Woodley Park (lots of strollers coming from the zoo) and at Metro Center I just carried the bike down the granite stairs because the line was so long for the elevator. The trains were packed due to track work on multiple lines, events on the mall, etc. I had to wait for several trains both on the red and orange lines. There were people with grocery carts, etc. I was within the letter of the law, but I really felt like I didn’t belong there and should have just ridden home to Vienna after the event.

Unfortunately, our metro system seems to be operating at peak capacity, if not exceeding it, during key times. I doubt it will get better any time soon (Silver Line, anyone?). I like the idea in theory, but in practice, not so much.

Excellent reminder that you can always put you bike on the rack on a metro bus, Klizotte.

Liz

I think Metro should allow bikes on trains during rush hour only in the first (front) car and only at the operator’s discretion. That is, when he or she opens the little window, you ask if you can board with your bike. Most of the time the front car is less crowded, especially on suburban or off-direction runs, and this would allow many cyclists to use Metro as needed. The cyclist would take the risk if trains were too crowded and boarding was denied by the operator — you’d just have to wait for an uncrowded train.

@Tim Kelley 16588 wrote:

Just curious, but where was it that you were coming from that you couldn’t just ride home in the three hours that you were waiting?

I’d like to know that too. I can’t imagine that any Metro trip could take you somewhere that a 3-hour bike ride couldn’t. It might not be fun if you hadn’t planned for it, but it can be done.

I also agree with Metro’s policy. Bikes would completely mess up getting on and off crowded trains. It just can’t work.

That said, I remember riding downtown on a weekend and then getting a really bad headache, so I decided to hop on Metro to get home. I had forgotten there was some event downtown though, so it was closed to bikes all day. Riding with a headache sucks.

There’s no way to allow bikes on Metro at rush hour and not foul up the entire system. In some of the downtown stations, there simply wouldn’t even be enough room to walk the bikes along the platforms to the cars. At some transfer stations, you would place pedestrians in danger of falling off the platform because it’s so narrow. This would be a really bad idea.

There are two bike experiences on Metro. One, early on Sunday mornings with a light, easy to manage road bike. Simple. [ATTACH=CONFIG]837[/ATTACH]

Then there’s Saturday afternoons. Downtown. At the Smithsonian Station. [ATTACH=CONFIG]838[/ATTACH]
With an enormous bike. Never again.