Bikes on trains: Conductors perspective

Ive looked through a few of the topics on this matter and thought I'd give my 2c from a different viewpoint, that toolbag from the kingdom of jerk off, a Metra conductor. Have 15 years in and it was oh so nice for the first 9 not to have to deal with this but as we all know, that ended a few years back and the geniuses at Metra who came with the plan as usual half assed it and left us , the operating employee, holding the bag for it. While they are at home every weekend, they leave it to us to enforce the policy, rules and regs that go along with being able to bring bikes on board, a policy that  to this day many riders have zero clue about the proper way of doing. Of course the people who read this forum dont fall into this category at all, you are all respectful and abide by what the conductor says every time you ride Im sure. Bikes in general are a pain to have on the train, whether or not there is room for them. To this day, my estimate is that 60% of the people STILL get on without a way to secure their bike to the bottom rail like theyre supposed to, then want to fight with me about letting them ride anyway. Main reason we are such sticklers for this? If for some reason that bike is unsecured and something happens where the train moves suddenly, derails, goes through a crossover, etc and it breaks loose and hits little Tommy sitting with his Mom across the aisle and hurts him, management and Tommys Mom arent going to come after you the bike rider. Nope, theyre going to come after me, the conductor and first thing theyre going to ask / tell me is why didnt you make sure those bikes were tied down? Boom, Im out of a job when Tommys Mom sues and Im not putting my families future at risk because some doofus doesnt carry around a bungee or chain. Next, relinquishing your seat or being asked to leave the train when the train becomes too crowded IS a possibility and a risk you take when you bring your bike on board. Ive had so many arguments over this its not even funny. People seem to think once theyre on, thats it and they cant be asked to leave when we need the space. Sorry, but we can do that and Im not making a family of 5 stand up for 30 plus miles just so you can bring your bike on. Next up, reaching max capacity . Certain trains can take up to 15 bikes but we dont have to take that many. If the bikes that are on board are clogging the aisle making walking by them unsafe, Im going to cut off the bikes right there and no more will be allowed to board. So when you try to get on halfway down the line and I tell you we're full, its my decision and its final. I usually get the "cmon man you can take 1 more" stance and Im not going to compromise the safety of the other passengers no matter how much people beg and plead. Youve all seen how crowded those trains are especially on weekends, and when I have to move 4 people from their seats when you get on 1 stop out of Ogilve / Union so you can bring your bike on, its a pain, I dont like my job to be a pain, I like it to run smooth. Bikes in general cause the train not to run so smooth because of all the baggage that goes along with it. Just keep that in mind next time you think the conductor is being a jerk to some rider about their bike. NONE and I mean none of the conductors I know like having them on board m we are being forced to do it because some dopes at the top thought it would be a good idea and forced it on us without really creating a way to make it palatable for us and for you the rider. For that I dont fault you I fault them but they leave us to clean up the mess . Thanks for reading, Flame away.

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Permalink Reply by Haddon on July 10, 2013 at 3:32pm

For a bit I lived in the South Suburbs and biked to a night shift job from downtown and never had a problem though the hours I went the trains were thinly occupied.

As I have never heard a single bad Metra bike story I honestly think there will be a shortage of flaming here. While we are at it what covers "properly attached?"  I used a cable lock but will a bungee cord do it? But there was something about not locking it?  (in case the bike needed to be moved in an emergency) 

Could you enlighten us if you would please. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 10, 2013 at 3:47pm

Personally I've always found the conductors more than helpful when trying to board a train with my bike. No complaints there.

I don't use it as part of my daily bike-train commute, but I can understand some of the frustrations voiced on the Chainlink around blackout days and blackout times. It does diminish the reliability of using Metra as part of your commute. This may have to do with the inconsistent leadership on this topic.

Permalink Reply by Haddon on July 10, 2013 at 3:50pm

Agreed:

Personally I've always found the conductors more than helpful when trying to board a train with my bike. No complaints there.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 10, 2013 at 4:09pm

I also have limited experience taking bikes on Metra.  I do ride Metra regularly, though live and work close enough to my stations that I can just walk.  In my limited experience (mostly watching people with bikes trying to board), most of the cyclist doesn't understand the "not during rush hour" rule, or has nothing with which to properly secure the bike.

I'm not sure it's all that helpful for Metra that people can bring bikes on CTA trains, and that many/most/all CTA buses have racks up front.  That probably confuses people who think of the "L" and Metra as "the train," and don't realize they have different rules governing bikes.

Permalink Reply by Steve Taylor on July 10, 2013 at 4:16pm

I agree partially but my God, everything people need to know about that is right on the website, You'd think they would do a little research to find out the whens / wheres/ and hows before attempting to bring it on lest you get stuck 25 miles away from your house. 

Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

I also have limited experience taking bikes on Metra.  I do ride Metra regularly, though live and work close enough to my stations that I can just walk.  In my limited experience (mostly watching people with bikes trying to board), most of the cyclist doesn't understand the "not during rush hour" rule, or has nothing with which to properly secure the bike.

I'm not sure it's all that helpful for Metra that people can bring bikes on CTA trains, and that many/most/all CTA buses have racks up front.  That probably confuses people who think of the "L" and Metra as "the train," and don't realize they have different rules governing bikes.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on July 10, 2013 at 8:56pm

Steve: thank you for weighing in from the conductor's perspective.  I'm sure your job is not an easy one.

Metra management has never seemed to be particularly good at communication with its passengers.  I have never once seen a sign about a bike blackout posted on a station platform, nor a customer service representative on a platform when something unusual is happening with the system.  It seems unreasonable to expect passengers to check the Metra web site every day to see if the system is operating the same way today as it was yesterday.  Even if it was the ticket seller who popped out of his box occasionally to caution cyclists waiting for a train, on a day bikes aren't allowed--that would at least give the rider five minutes to properly lock his or her bike before the train arrived, rather than being turned away by a conductor and having to wait another hour for the next run.  Beyond bikes, more than once I've found myself standing on the usual platform waiting for a train, only to watch it arrive on the opposite track, where I can't get to it, because of track work.  There has never been a customer service rep on affected station platforms, or a station master, directing passengers in unusual circumstances, when I've needed one.  By contrast, the CTA floods the system with written signs and on-platform reps when something unusual is going on, like line reroutes or big events, which is enormously helpful.

Part of the frustration from riders is that getting bikes on board Metra trains was a long difficult battle, and it seems that getting to work or an event via Metra often comes down to the capriciousness of some conductor.  I've got either a two mile walk or bike ride between my destination Metra station and a frequent job site, so I often take my bike along.  It seems difficult to imagine how taking my bike from a North Shore suburb outbound up to Lake County, near the Wisconsin border, would have any bearing on Taste of Chicago sixty miles to the south.  Yet the bike blackout is a total blanket prohibition, whether you're traveling toward the city or away from it.  There's no precision in the directive, just a big "NO!"  It just makes no sense.

There's also a sense of fairness here.  There are a number of days when bikes aren't allowed on the Metra system.  I've yet to hear of a day when other commuters were prevented driving cars to Metra stations.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 11, 2013 at 3:03am

That has usually been my experience, especially in the last few years, after conductors had time to learn the ropes of working with us on this issue.

My biggest frustration last year and this year has been the decrease in the number of available ADA cars on the Rock Island, which has been steadily shrinking, even as I see more available ADA cars when I ride other lines.  Thank you, Metra management, for making life tougher for passengers and conductors by taking away cars that we need to accommodate growing numbers of people with bikes, kids, and large suitcases in addition to disabled passengers who need that space.  This slows boarding, delaying trains, making everyone's life tougher, and often means that passengers with bikes who want to board more than halfway along the route may be out of luck because there's no available space. 

If only Metra could place ADA cars together in trainsets, so that as many ADA cars as possible could be available for use during off-peak runs when the number of open cars is limited....

Steve - Thanks for weighing in on this topic. It seems like management often makes choices that make your job tougher, making your interactions with passengers more challenging.

Haddon said:

Agreed:

Personally I've always found the conductors more than helpful when trying to board a train with my bike. No complaints there.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 11, 2013 at 3:05am
whats the problem again with a bike only train car? That would solve so many problems right?
Permalink Reply by Heather on July 11, 2013 at 3:27am

I'm guessing the money it would cost to design them, manufacture them and add them to the lines--and presumably also the loss of revenue from a regular car (playing devil's advocate here).

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 11, 2013 at 3:36am

I know we've discussed this before at length. Ah found it here

Permalink Reply by Steve Taylor on July 11, 2013 at 5:21am

@ Jennifer

                  Nice rant Ill try and address your points best I can though I do not work for the UP so I cant tell you what goes on on that line. You're wrong in stating that its my job to tell you that the train will probably get crowded down the line and you  probably will have to leave the train because of it. Thats the inherent risk everytime you board a train especially during the summer with all the events , etc going on. If its a common occurance on that Ravinia train, sure I guess they could mention it to people with bikes but by no means are we required to. Secondly I agree wholeheartedly about conductors not monitoring the bikes as far as making them be tied up properly, etc. A lot of guys quite frankly are lazy and do their jobs poorly just like in every workplace what can I say.  Everytime a train crew bends the rules, lets people ride without tie downs, takes more bikes beyond capacity because they think theyre being nice, only makes it harder for the guys who do enforce and monitor it correctly because then you get " the other guy never makes me tie it down" speech. It creates a lot of uneccessary confusion and frustration on both ends . As far as the conductor yelling at people about no more bikes, I do it all the time. Sorry but you are not entiteld to a detailed explanation of why. Im the one who has been on the train keeping track of things, you just saw the train pass by and get a quick glance at how much room there is. I know how much room there is and whether or not accepting more bikes will pose a safety issue. All you need to hear is "we're full" and thats the end of the conversation on my end. Seems harsh but thats the way it is. Theres nothing passive aggresive about my rant here I do not like having bikes on my trains, it was an ill conceived program with poor implementation and conceptualization. Basically Metra said, heres your program now we wash our hands of it and let us have to deal with their lousy execution of it. The extra ridership is not the reason the last 6 years have been problematic, that I can handle. Its more of a largely uninformed public, and a could care less " you deal with the mess we made" management thats made it bad on this issue.

Permalink Reply by Steve Taylor on July 11, 2013 at 5:23am

Thats exactly it. They dont have money to fix the current equipment they have, let alone order special coaches designed for a few dozen riders.

Heather said:

I'm guessing the money it would cost to design them, manufacture them and add them to the lines--and presumably also the loss of revenue from a regular car (playing devil's advocate here).

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