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Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on May 14, 2012 at 1:18pm

1.  Every man for himself.

2. The bike area cars are the ones marked as handicapped cars.   You are actually putting your bike in the designated handicapped area.  If a real handicapped guy shows up, you'll get kicked off. 

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 14, 2012 at 2:39pm

Look for the wheelchair symbol next to the entry door for the car.  The ADA accessible cars have larger windows than the older cars.  If you look down the train and see some cars with taller windows than the others, those are the cars you want.  Once you get up the stairs in an accessible car, look for a bike symbol on one side and go to that side of the car.

My experience has been that it's almost always possible for wheelchair users and cyclists to work cooperatively to share the space.  I've sometimes had to move my bike from its original position, and we've sometimes had to ask other people to move who didn't have a special need for accessible seating., but it's worked out.  

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Permalink Reply by rb on May 15, 2012 at 1:05am

There is always enough room in my experience to accommodate everyone.

That said, as Anne mentioned sometimes, the cyclists and/ or other patrons might have to move.

On a recent ride, there were 4 large and intimidating men in the bike area- they refused to move to other open seats, even when I politely pointed out the sign. I had to hold my ground literally until the conductor came by 5 stops later and told the men to move. That was a little scary, but to the point if all riders are considerate, there should be room.

Also, something that I have been doing for a while is asking other cyclists what stop they will be leaving the train, that makes it easier to stack the bikes in order and to remove them from the stack to get off the train. 

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Permalink Reply by Liz on May 15, 2012 at 2:50am

Unless I'm in a big group of cyclists and we're going to max out the car capacity (5 bikes) I'll pair up if I see another cyclist at the station, so the number of affected cars is reduced. 

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Permalink Reply by igz on May 15, 2012 at 3:00am

1) each line treats the bike quantity rules differently.  i happen to frequent the Milwaukee West line - the Bensenville train.  typically, my commute involves 6-8 bikes on each car. they never mind unless you dont have a bungee. on a recent train ride back from Harvard, the conductor had a hissy fit over 6 bikes.

2) typically, the conductor does not want folks with their bikes in the door area, and will ask you to find a spot on an ADA car.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on May 15, 2012 at 3:17am

Has anyone ever been told you have to be last on and last off?  That happened to me once.  Conductor said it was a rule.

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Permalink Reply by rb on May 15, 2012 at 4:39am

Only once has a conductor said that I had to wait. on UP Northline, they seem more interested in getting the trains boarded quickly.

If you look like you know what you are doing and act confident, they seem to provide less of a hassle.

Julie Hochstadter said:

Has anyone ever been told you have to be last on and last off?  That happened to me once.  Conductor said it was a rule.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 15, 2012 at 4:53am

It is listed in Metra's rules for bikes, however, it's rarely enforced.  I'm grateful for that lack of enforcement, because waiting to go last would add as much as 5 minutes on the downtown end of many of my trips, and then the exits would be full of slow people in front of me.

I've only had it happen once.  My experience has been consistent with rb's "look and act confident" approach.  It helps that most of the conductors on the Rock Island recognize me, know that I've been taking my bikes on the train for years, and know that I understand how to do it.  When I ride without a bike, some of the ask me where it is, because they're used to seeing me with one.  When I encounter a newbie to the line, I tell him/her that I'm familiar with the procedures.

I also do what rb mentioned above - asking other cyclists where they're getting off, so we can arrange our bikes by destination and reduce hassle on unloading.

rb said:

Only once has a conductor said that I had to wait. on UP Northline, they seem more interested in getting the trains boarded quickly.

If you look like you know what you are doing and act confident, they seem to provide less of a hassle.

Julie Hochstadter said:

Has anyone ever been told you have to be last on and last off?  That happened to me once.  Conductor said it was a rule.

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