*transportation policy hat on* BART did have a dedicated train car once upon a time, unfortunately the number of bikes coming on and off--combined with the difficulty of maneuvering said bicycles around other bicycles--resulted in long dwell times at the station. too long, in fact, for a service oriented toward rapid transit for trips both long and quite short.
in order to improve this excessive delay in dwell time, they shifted to on/off along all cars, which did go to help things a bit by spreading boarding out along all those many doors. you get what you can, but BART needs to serve all needs. competing for car trips means transit time becomes a huge priority. the best solution would be dedicated space near the doors, in sufficient size, for bicycles. such a solution would decrease travel time even further, and ameliorate the constant conflict for space between bikes/luggage/people. ok, transportation hat comes off now, cheers, erik On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Ray Shine <[email protected]> wrote: > The most convenient and user-friendly bike/train experience I have found is > the local CalTrain line that runs between San Francisco and Gilroy. I have > bike/trained on Amtrak to from Oakland to Portland (14 hours late due to > mandatory ceding of right-of-way to freight haulers), Capital Express to > Sacramento from Emeryville (second best experience) and frequent BART > rides. Local Bay Area chaps will disagree with me, but I find BART to me a > needlessly restrictive hassle. Despite the hype, BART does not make it > accommodating to bike with BART. Back to CalTrain. I use it often. Each > train has a dedicated bike car with an easy-to-use rack system, seating > above the bikes, etc. Too bad the longer run lines don't pattern their > policies after CalTrain -- INCLUDING BART! > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Montclair BobbyB <[email protected]> > *To:* RBW Owners Bunch <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wed, November 3, 2010 10:26:51 AM > *Subject:* [RBW] Riv & Rail - Travelling by Bike and Train > > I can't stop thinking about my experience this past weekend, > travelling to the Philly Bike Expo on my Bombadil and the train. It > definitely opened my eyes to the possibilities of this kind of combo > travel, but perhaps more important it exposed weaknesses in the train > transit system that will need further development. But overall it was > a great experience. > > This was my first (of hopefully many future) bike-train trip(s). Does > anyone else have experiences travelling with your bike by train? How > would you rate YOUR train service in terms of bike-friendliness? My > key observations about Amtrak, NJ Transit and SEPTA (greater Philly > area): > > - In the hall of shame is Amtrak, which although they allow folding > bicycles at all times, they prohibit roll-on/roll-off along the > Northeast Corridor line (even during off-hours), a situation that > frankly is unacceptable. This is our national rail system, our taxes > subsidize this system, and yet their mindset is so far behind the > times, it's frustrating. In fact, I wrote a letter to the Northeast > Regional Office of Government Affairs at Amtrak (Peter Cohen) last > winter, requesting special permission to roll my bike onto the train > to Washington to represent my state of NJ at the National Bike > Summit. Not only did Mr Cohen not reply, after receiving my second > inquiry he referred me to a customer service rep, where I got the > stock party-line answer "We don't have the equipment to handle > this"... which is a gutless and LAME response. (Thumbs DOWN!) > - NJ Transit allows folding-bicycles at all times, and full-size bikes > (roll on/off) during off-peak hours. The new double-decker trains are > very well-suited for bikes (in the accessible/wheelchair area) and > score high marks!!; the older single level trains are less well- > suited, and require placing bikes in seating areas in close proximity > to other passengers, often encroaching on the aisle. The conductors > were VERY helpful... this was much appreciated (thumbs UP!) > - SEPTA trains have a policy similar to NJ Transit, and these trains > are single level with no special accommodations for bikes, other than > to occupy an accessible seating space (like NJ Transit's older > trains). Conductors were polite and very accommodating (thumbs UP!) > > The encouraging news is that Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood > and the League of American Bicyclists are leaning on organizations, > including Amtrak to change their policy, and to make it feasible for > full size bikes to roll on and roll off Amtrak trains. > > One day I hope to hop on a train (with my Riv), and perhaps visit a > few people on this forum. > > Peace, > > BB > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+ > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<rbw-owners-bunch%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- oakland, ca bikenoir.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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