Metra's Bikes on Trains Program

Starting June 1st, Metra will start to allow bikes on trains during off peak hours. There are 16 new rules and regulations for the new program.

Rule #2 is:

Only two bicycles per ADA car on each train will be allowed in designated priority seating areas. For 2005 the following number of bicycles can generally be accommodated per train:

Union Pacific North, Northwest & West Lines 8 bicycles
Milwaukee North & West Lines 6 bicycles
Rock Island Line 6 bicycles
Burlington Northern Santa Fe 4 bicycles
North Central Service 6 bicycles
Southwest Service 6 bicycles
Metra Electric 6 bicycles

I wonder how many people will actually use the program.

I doubt that many people will use it.

I was surprised to find out the hard way during the summer of last year that bicycles were not allowed on Metra (though I swore I'd seen them on trains prior to that...). There are a number of folks who don't live in the city who enjoy biking on the lakefront. Traditionally the easiest way to get down there has been to drive. Maybe that will change a bit now.

Those numbers they give don't make a whole lot of sense though, because most of the time not all of the ADA cars on a train are open. It's lucky to get more than one open on an off-peak train. And what happens if an actual disabled individual boards and needs the space, but it is all taken up by bicycles?

Considering how protective certain Metra riders are about their beloved seats... you've got to wonder about the potential for success of this program.

I believe Metra did have a previous bike program. However it was only on certian dates on a certian line, not system wide like this one.

metrari is right there was a piliot program a few summers ago that allowed bikes on select(very select) trains

Just like everone think no one will used then on the pace and cta buses.Now look ever pace and cta bus hads a bike rack on it.Well just about everone that didnt hit something with it then there took it off.

[I can't really tell which side is being stated in the previous post--bikes on buses are good or bad--so I'm sorry if this repeats it.] I certainly think it is GOOD to establish transportation policy which makes it easier for people to choose non-automobile options.

I see bikes on the local Pace route several times a week. I also see them on CTA, although in my experience bikes are mostly on the L trains rather than on buses. It may not be that every bus and train has a bike on it, but that does not mean it is not a vital transportation link for some people. (I think the older infrastructure of CTA stations is part of the reason bikes are not taken on CTA trains as much as they are in some other cities with more modern, easily-accessible stations.)

I certainly applaud Metra for moving forward from the previous, very limited pilot project to a system-wide acceptance of bicycles on trains. While I had hoped that the cars currently being delivered might have been designed with bicycle space (as is provided on some CalTrain cars), this is at least a step forward. CTA initially only placed bike racks on North Ave. buses for a summer trial and had a limited trial period of allowing bikes on trains. Those expanded into the current system-wide bike policy on CTA buses and trains. The momentum seems to be in the right direction, with each trial program leading to a wider program.

in my mind, it is a great idea that should have been stared alnog time ago. There was a artical about this topic in the sun times yesterday.

Personally, I'd like to take advantage of this type of service to access the former North Shore lines around Lake Bluff. My closest Metra is Geneva, so I'd have to go downtown first, but that still sounds better than driving to the area with the bikes...

TT

Metra has now updated its schedules and added the bike limit to its online & pdf schedules for each train. I guess people who live near Heritage Corridor won't have a choice to take the train with their bike, since no train on HC allows bikes on board.

one person yesterday got off a midday run at elmhurst with a bike and i saw one person grabing a north line train at otc with a bike. i guess it could be a very popular program. Question- is it free to bring on your bike or do you need to purchase a ticket for it like some commuter systems?

There is no additional cost for bringing your bike on Metra. I guess some people got a head start with the program, considering it doesn't offically start until Wednesday...

i was suprised too but i guess as long as there is room the conducters arent goning to stop them. One of the main supporters of this program lives in elmhurst so the station has had signs up for along time now

Friday afternoon, a man managed to get his bike onto BNSF train 1251 (4:44 CUS departure). The strange part was that it wasn't until Belmont station where he had to leave the train and he gave the conductor a very hard time when he had gotten off. I wonder how this person was able to get his bike on the train and was able to make it all the way to Belmont (I think his stop was Naperville).