Caltrain bicyclists will be allowed first access to bike cars beginning Monday in a five-week pilot program to improve efficiency, Caltrain officials said.
The Mountain View, Palo Alto and Redwood City stations will test the system. The agency has found that 66 percent of delays result from issues with passengers, and a majority of those issues involve bike boarding.
Bike issues caused 1,352 minutes of delays in December 2017, the agency said. Caltrain staff will open up entrance access to bicycle owners and make sure they don't have to navigate through crowds.
The agency's Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair Dan Provence said trains carry 6,000 people with bikes every weekday.
"A system that allows for faster and easier bike boarding will greatly benefit everyone who rides Caltrain, which in turn benefits every commuter on the Peninsula," Provence said.
Comments
Menlo Park: Downtown
on Apr 13, 2018 at 12:24 pm
on Apr 13, 2018 at 12:24 pm
Why do non-bicyclists want to sit in the bike car anyway. The bike car is more congested than the other cars. Just sit in the other cars and you won't have to worry about this. If there is a problem with people not being able to tell which cars are the bike cars, then Caltrain should put up bigger signs on the cars or even mark the location on the sidewalk.
Menlo Park: Suburban Park/Lorelei Manor/Flood Park Triangle
on Apr 13, 2018 at 5:00 pm
on Apr 13, 2018 at 5:00 pm
It bothers me that a bicycle takes up at least the space for 2 seats and the rider takes up another seat space, so the bike person is getting 3 seats for the price of one and now they are making the trains late...duh are we over the top with this crazy bow to bicycle riders????
Menlo Park: Downtown
on Apr 13, 2018 at 7:01 pm
on Apr 13, 2018 at 7:01 pm
Realistically, the main purpose of Caltrain is to reduce the number of cars on the road so we don't have to build trillions of dollars of new highways lanes. Letting take their bicycles on the train does this tremendously effectively. The main alternative is to subsidize more parking spaces, which is much more expensive as well as not especially effective at taking cars off the road.
Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park
on Apr 14, 2018 at 8:14 pm
on Apr 14, 2018 at 8:14 pm
This is not going to change anything....
The problem is not the passengers (with or without bicycles).
The problem is the ill-conceived car-access, with having to wrestle bikes up steep steps and through doorways that are too narrow.
But the biggest issue is that bikes are stacked on top of each other without any system (e.g. sorted by destination).
From experience, digging your bike out and trying to force it through the narrow corridors to the doors takes the most time.
That's just a band-aid fix that will not work.
The biggest time lost is during the process of boardingthe
Menlo Park: The Willows
on Apr 16, 2018 at 12:13 pm
on Apr 16, 2018 at 12:13 pm
This is directed to the 30+ yr resident of MP
Your comments are very short sighted.
What about the seats your bicycle rider doesn't occupy going to and from train station on other public transportation?