WMATA Metro Rail Bike Policy

[alexisglenn]

Hi, I’m new to WABA and this forum. After searching the forum a bit, the most recent thread (2012) regarding Metro’s bike policy included many replies in support of upholding WMATA’s no rush hour, no exceptions rule against bikes on the rail system. While I respect the view that some consider taking bikes on trains during rush hour a safety issue, especially crowded trains, there are many instances when Metro cars are not crowded during rush hours. If anyone reading this agrees that Metro’s bike policy is arbitrary and unjust, I would like to encourage you to write to Metro at boardofdirectors@wmata.com and feel free to use the letter and graphic attached here. [ATTACH]10744[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10745[/ATTACH]

Topic

[Raymo853]

@alexisglenn 133807 wrote:

Could you show me where I compare a bike to a child? Like actually pull the quote?

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[lordofthemark]

@Raymo853 133916 wrote:

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IANAL, but I do not see a child in that image.

[bentbike33]

@lordofthemark 133918 wrote:

IANAL, but I do not see a child in that image.

The child is inferred by the image of the stroller as being inside of it.

Or possibly the piece of luggage.

[fongfong]

Just reading this, and I am shocked and surprised by the lack of support from the posters here. It is all well and good to take the position that you know best about whether or not a policy is workable, and especially appropriate to be mindful of the functioning of the Metro system. But to conclude that a blanket ban on bikes during rush hour is appropriate on all trains and at all times is completely counterproductive to providing better bike access in the DC area.

I’d be interested in the biggest critics explaining exactly what is wrong with the BART policy. BART tested whether and how this policy would work over a one year period, and determined that there was plenty of excess capacity to permit bikes on trains. This is their policy:

BART Trains

Please observe all bike rules if you plan on taking a bike on a train. Although bikes are allowed on all trains at all times, there are some important exceptions:

Bikes are never allowed on crowded cars (there must be enough room to comfortably accommodate you and your bicycle)
Bikes are never allowed on the first car of any train
Bikes are not allowed in the first three cars during commute hours (7:00 to 9:00 AM and 4:30 to 6:30 PM)
Bikes are not allowed on escalators. Bicyclists must yield to other passengers and not block aisles or doors. If you are taking your bike on BART, it’s your responsibility to know and follow all bike rules–please read them.

They have now allowed bikes on BART for a year and a half. I have heard of no complaints about it. If the doubters wish to show me how the policy is a failure, I’d love to see it. The BART policy appears to want to treat cyclists like adults, something that those who would want no changes tends not to want to do. I personally want to be treated as if I can follow those above rules. It smacks me as elitism to take the position that others cannot be held to that same standard of using their best judgment in this regard.

One last point. I want my 7 year old son to ride his bike more often. He goes to school 6 miles from our home, and some says he can ride to school, but would have a tough time riding both ways. Letting him and me ride part way, and take the Metro the rest of the way would be great, but some here think not.

[mstone]

@fongfong 133935 wrote:

I’d be interested in the biggest critics explaining exactly what is wrong with the BART policy.

I’ve ridden BART. It is in no way comparable to rush hour on metro.

It smacks me as elitism to take the position that others cannot be held to that same standard of using their best judgment in this regard.

I don’t really give a crap about letting people use their judgment if the consequences affect others more than themselves.

But all of this was covered before…

[vern]

I lived in New York for six years, where everything imaginable gets transported on the subway, any time, day or night…pets in carriers, bikes, furniture – you name it. And the subway is way more congested than the Metro. And it works, and everybody deals with it, and it’s OK. Metro rules are dumb.

[Terpfan]

The last time I took on my bikes on a Metro train was on a weekend. The train ended up being fairly crowded so I went to the very end. It was fine until I got to Gallery Place to transfer. Of course there was some broken train, track work, or something. So it was a 45 minute wait for the Red Line. So I did what I should have done all along, walked the hell out of the station and rode to my destination in Silver Spring. Not surprisingly, I made it there before Metro. I did get yelled at for using the escalator with my bike, but the elevator was broke, and damned if I was waiting 45 minutes to go anywhere.

The only thing is that I think when it comes to Metro, it should be constructive criticisms offered with solutions. As much as they can suck, they have seemingly been making strides to improve with cyclist parking, repair stations, CABI access, etc. I want them to be praised for the good strives and given ideas on how to improve. Because I think if it’s just criticism, they will toss it into the pile that’s got to be taller than Mt. Everest by now.

[PotomacCyclist]

@vern 133958 wrote:

I lived in New York for six years, where everything imaginable gets transported on the subway, any time, day or night…pets in carriers, bikes, furniture – you name it. And the subway is way more congested than the Metro. And it works, and everybody deals with it, and it’s OK. Metro rules are dumb.

But NYC is only just starting to add bike racks on their buses. They are the last major U.S. city not to have bike racks on their buses. Some of the DC-area jurisdictions have had bus bike racks for a decade or more. Even Prince George’s (which hasn’t always been the most bike or transit-friendly) added bike racks to their regional buses last year.

http://www.streetsblog.org/2015/08/31/mta-bike-racks-are-coming-to-buses-over-the-verrazano-narrows-bridge/

The lack of bike racks on buses is a major omission in NYC, especially for the boroughs other than Manhattan where the subway coverage isn’t as extensive.. Everything in NYC isn’t always better. I never used bike racks on buses until this winter. Now that I’ve tried them out, I don’t know why I didn’t use them before. They make it a lot more convenient to travel longer distances in the DC region without having to bike the entire trip.

There are various reasons for doing this: not wanting to be exhausted before even arriving at the destination (where someone might want to bike, instead of riding through areas with poorer bike infrastructure), being able to travel much farther without having to drive and still getting to ride the bike, traveling through areas with poor bike infrastructure but heading to bike-friendly destinations. Casual cyclists may want shorter overall bike trips. Or they may want to avoid certain hilly areas on the bike. If WMATA and the regional bus fleets didn’t have bike racks on their buses, that would make traveling by bike much more difficult for many trips in the region. Or it would make some of those trips impractical with a bike. Bikeshare helps with some of those types of trips, but not all of them, since there are still many areas in the region that aren’t part of CaBi. Some neighborhoods in participating jurisdictions don’t have any bike stations or the bike stations are placed very far apart.

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 134597 wrote:

But NYC is only just starting to add bike racks on their buses. They are the last major U.S. city not to have bike racks on their buses

Yes, I think their bike policy is more a reflection of the reality that they can’t enforce any policy due to the uncontrolled nature of many stations than any kind of bike friendliness. The washington metro was designed differently as a specific reaction to some aspects of the NY system.

[Author]

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