Petition for WMATA to add a bike car to every 3rd train/8 car train

[ShawnoftheDread]

Unless things have changed recently, BART is also operating in an area where it’s the only non-car way across a large body of water, so there are some different considerations involved.

[DismalScientist]

You can bike across the Dumbarton and Golden Gate bridges, not that BART is a substitute there.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@DismalScientist 92894 wrote:

You can bike across the Dumbarton and Golden Gate bridges, not that BART is a substitute there.

Yes, but that’s not really a reasonable alternative to getting from SF to Oakland for most folks. Present company excepted, of course.

[americancyclo]

@ShawnoftheDread 92898 wrote:

Yes, but that’s not really a reasonable alternative to getting from SF to Oakland for most folks. Present company excepted, of course.

And Sears Point Rd. Not as bike friendly as you might hope.

[Drewdane]

@Kbikeva 91961 wrote:

Purchasing a folding bike is not within a lot of peoples’ budgets.

Certainly not one that’s worth the money spent. Cheapo folders are the worst, even worse than department-store regular bikes.

Also, my experience trying out an Orange Line commute with a folding bike was that it was more trouble than it was worth. The fact that it folded didn’t make it any less cumbersome, underfoot and in the way during peak rush, and the fact that they’re allowed didn’t save me from getting the (justified, IMO) stinkeye from my fellow passengers as they tried to avoid brushing up against the greasy chain, tripping over the bike as they moved past, etc.

[dasgeh]

The issue I have is that the current rules are just silly. Trains just aren’t full for the entire window bikes aren’t allowed. In the short run, there should be a better way to design the rules.

In the long run, there should be a better way to design the system to allow space for bikes, but I could have stopped this sentence at “system”.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I do find it interesting (read: stupid and annoying) that the rush hour metro restrictions run later than the area freeways’ hov restrictions. Rush hour on 395 ends at 6:00? Have any decision makers ever driven 395?

[mstone]

@ShawnoftheDread 92938 wrote:

I do find it interesting (read: stupid and annoying) that the rush hour metro restrictions run later than the area freeways’ hov restrictions. Rush hour on 395 ends at 6:00? Have any decision makers ever driven 395?

I think the freeway restrictions are based on the limits imposed by US DOT rather than the wishes of decision makers in Richmond & VDOT. (Basically, what you see is the bare minimum they can get away with.)

[lordofthemark]

@mstone 92875 wrote:

Actually, they don’t. Bikes are not permitted on “crowded trains”. So, basically, not on any rush hour train.

At least on WMATA there are rush hour trains that are not crowded – many reverse commute trains. Heck, I take the Green line from L’Enfant to Navy Yard in the AM when I don’t bike commute, and there is certainly room for bikes on it. I assume those are the kinds of rush hour trains that BART allows bikes on.

The only differences I note (I kind of doubt it’s the differences in temperment) are that as you stated, the rail cas are shaped differently, and as others have stated, the geography of the Bay Area provides fewer options for cyclists. I am not sure if WMATA will go to more open car plans – the growing congestion in the core would make that logical, but the folks riding long distances from end of line stations in the suburbs won’t want to have standing room substitute for seats.

[mstone]

@lordofthemark 92964 wrote:

At least on WMATA there are rush hour trains that are not crowded – many reverse commute trains. Heck, I take the Green line from L’Enfant to Navy Yard in the AM when I don’t bike commute, and there is certainly room for bikes on it. I assume those are the kinds of rush hour trains that BART allows bikes on.

The point is that BART doesn’t actually allow bikes on “any” train, for reasons similar to those in DC. They do allow more latitude for people to police themselves. They don’t, as I recall, have the same platform issues that DC has (the mezzanine/escalator crush of death) which may be why they think it’s less of an issue (along with the different interior layout). It’s a relatively new policy change, we’ll see how it goes.

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