CTA and bikes

In my opinion, CTA should allow bikers to carry bicycles on trains at all times. Right now, it is NOT ALLOWED to carry bikes on trains on weekdays from 7am to 9am, and 4pm to 6pm !!!??? Hello, CTA, what about people who commute by bicycle?
Let us do something about this!!

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Permalink Reply by Matt Jovanovic on July 10, 2009 at 3:28pm
Thanks M.A.R.K for the reply. I think that through the "Chainlink", we could organize a petition, or as you say, a meeting in front of the CTA and ask for the change to be made in this regulation. I have been living in Berlin for 6 months, always used trains to carry my bike regardless of the hours. Chicago could have the same thing. CTA's hour limits are really annoying and inconvenient, aren't they?
One solution to the problem could also be to dedicate one car on each train to bikers, that is, bikers only. Simple and convenient. What do you think?

M.A.R.K. said:
What did you have in mind?
The CTA I feel is different in this aspect then my griping about Metra in the past as EL cars are very limited on space, and do get pretty packed during the rush. But I am totally with you on this.. If 3,000 people can get down to Daley during the summer months, why can't they all get to a CTA meeting or two also?
Permalink Reply by Matt Jovanovic on July 10, 2009 at 3:50pm
Convincing the CTA to change this regulation would definitely not be easy, but I am optimistic about the outcome if a large number of bikers would gather and ask for this.
You are right regarding the separate car. Mostly there are not enough bikes to fill up a whole car so half of the car modified to accept more bikes would be a great idea too.
I also don't depend much on the trains but it would be convenient to have it available for commuting in winter.
To begin with, we could collect support in the form of signatures and send it over to CTA, and see what they would have to say. I wonder if that could work through Chainlink?
By the way, I am new in town, moved here from Europe recently.
Permalink Reply by Jared on July 10, 2009 at 3:57pm
Many rush hour trains simply don't have room for bikes, that said I can't imagine all rush hour trains are that crowded. I've taken the outbound Pink Line at that hour and it's been relatively empty (probably a lot more empty than a mid-day Red Line during a Cubs game), especially after the Medical District. That said I would like to see bikes allowed on certain outbound rush hour trains. Of course the only problem with that is multiple train lines have the same entrance so it would be sort of hard to control what train cyclists get on.
Permalink Reply by Matt Jovanovic on July 10, 2009 at 4:55pm
If the change of this regulation is to be implemented, all train lines should be included. Discussing with M.A.R.K we came up with an idea that a modified car on each train would solve the problem, that is, a car with no, or less seats where more bikers could get on.
Do you have any other suggestions Jared?
Jared said:
Many rush hour trains simply don't have room for bikes, that said I can't imagine all rush hour trains are that crowded. I've taken the outbound Pink Line at that hour and it's been relatively empty (probably a lot more empty than a mid-day Red Line during a Cubs game), especially after the Medical District. That said I would like to see bikes allowed on certain outbound rush hour trains. Of course the only problem with that is multiple train lines have the same entrance so it would be sort of hard to control what train cyclists get on.
Permalink Reply by vxla on July 10, 2009 at 6:21pm
Bikes on trains at all hours is far too self serving of a smaller population than mass transit wholly supports. During shoulder peak hours (+/- 1 hour of the times you listed) there's barely enough room on trains for bikes. In peak rush, it would be worse.

If you can find a way to lobby for 10-car train platforms and enough new rolling stock to fill out the system to support your desire, that would be a good start.
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on July 10, 2009 at 7:14pm
those are peak travel times though, where people are stacked shoudler to shoulder, and you wanna bring your bike on the train? just ride it. .
Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on July 11, 2009 at 8:28am
Barely enough room to stand, without bikes.

MJ: your "Hello, CTA, what about people who commute by bicycle?" question almost answers itself. If you are on the CTA, you're not commuting by bicycle.
I understand what you mean tho.
Permalink Reply by Matt Jovanovic on July 11, 2009 at 2:08pm
MB: There is a point in what you said. However, it is very convenient for people who live far north or far south and work in downtown to combine biking and CTA trains. This is something they do every day and such change in CTA regulation would definitely be helpful. I lived in Berlin for some time and always used the train for one distance on my way to work. There were no time limitations whatsoever.
Michael J Blane said:
Barely enough room to stand, without bikes.

MJ: your "Hello, CTA, what about people who commute by bicycle?" question almost answers itself. If you are on the CTA, you're not commuting by bicycle.
I understand what you mean tho.
Permalink Reply by Matt Jovanovic on July 11, 2009 at 2:14pm
BK: They say nothing regarding the folding bikes. I guess it is OK to carry them.



Brian Kennedy said:
I like the idea of having cars with no seats, although I know it wasn't a popular idea when they started doing it on the Brown Line. Bikes still aren't allowed on them but already having them in the fleet is one less obstacle to overcome. I haven't heard anything CTA's seat-less cars in a long time so I wonder if it is no longer happening or if people have accepted it. I can definitely see seat-less cars as a solution. It's a win-win, to be cliché. The CTA loves it because SRO increases capacity and bikers would like it for the ability to put bikes on trains during rush. The only other solution would be to allow folding bikes 100% of the time. Do they already do that anyway? Sorry, I'm too lazy to look right now.
Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on July 11, 2009 at 3:21pm
MJ:
How did the public transportation in Berlin handle it? Special cars? Wider isles? Areas near the doors with no seats? Maybe we could pass this on to the CTA.

Matt Jovanovic said:
MB: There is a point in what you said. However, it is very convenient for people who live far north or far south and work in downtown to combine biking and CTA trains. This is something they do every day and such change in CTA regulation would definitely be helpful. I lived in Berlin for some time and always used the train for one distance on my way to work. There were no time limitations whatsoever.
Michael J Blane said:
Barely enough room to stand, without bikes.

MJ: your "Hello, CTA, what about people who commute by bicycle?" question almost answers itself. If you are on the CTA, you're not commuting by bicycle.
I understand what you mean tho.
Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on July 11, 2009 at 3:23pm
BK, MJ:
I believe that in order to bring a foldie on during rush hours, it must be bagged. (I could be in error)

Matt Jovanovic said:
BK: They say nothing regarding the folding bikes. I guess it is OK to carry them.



Brian Kennedy said:
I like the idea of having cars with no seats, although I know it wasn't a popular idea when they started doing it on the Brown Line. Bikes still aren't allowed on them but already having them in the fleet is one less obstacle to overcome. I haven't heard anything CTA's seat-less cars in a long time so I wonder if it is no longer happening or if people have accepted it. I can definitely see seat-less cars as a solution. It's a win-win, to be cliché. The CTA loves it because SRO increases capacity and bikers would like it for the ability to put bikes on trains during rush. The only other solution would be to allow folding bikes 100% of the time. Do they already do that anyway? Sorry, I'm too lazy to look right now.
Permalink Reply by Jared on July 11, 2009 at 5:55pm
Minneapolis allows bikes on their light rail all the time. That said they have vertical racks for the bikes and probably don't have the passenger volume the CTA has.

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