Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting - 57

2010 Annual Meeting

An Old-School Transportation Mode—Bikes— Helps Caltrain Passengers Bridge ‘Last Mile’
BY CHRISTINE DUNN Public Information Officer Caltrain San Carlos, CA

ager recruits to the “green revolution” are embracing a new form of transportation: the humble bicycle. No longer just a child’s toy, bicycles offer a convenient, economical way for commuters to travel the “last mile” between home or work and the transit center. In Northern California, where the climate is temperate most of the year, bicycles can be used almost year-round. On the San Francisco Peninsula, Caltrain has one of the most progressive bike programs in the country. Caltrain began its bicycle outreach in 1992 with a modest pilot program that allowed four bikes on a limited number of trains. By mid-1995, the agency installed special racks that could accommodate 12 bikes on all of its trains—increasing that number to 24 in 1996 and to 32 in 2001. In 2008, Caltrain increased its bike capacity another 33 percent for a total of 4,000 spaces each weekday. Today, approximately 2,400 riders, or about 7 percent of all Caltrain riders, bring a bike on the commuter rail system on an average weekday. The riders use custom-made bike racks, which are located in designated cars. To expedite boarding, Caltrain positions the bike cars at the northernmost end of the

train; if a train has two bike cars, they passionate and most organized of our are placed in the middle. customers. The bike cars are identifiable by Reflecting general ridership patterns, bright yellow signs at the passenger Caltrain’s Baby Bullet express trains, doors and the locomotive or cab car has which travel between San Francisco a sign indicating whether the train has and San Jose in less than an hour, carry one or two bike cars. Destination tags the most bikes. The bike cars are most on bikes help ease traffic flow in the crowded during peak commute hours, bike car. with some trains filled to capacity. Caltrain operates two types of equipLast spring, the agency conducted a ment: older steel Gallery cars and newer six-week study to gather more informaBombardier cars. Retrofitted Bombardier tion about capacity issues, finding that bike cars can accommodate 24 bikes, most trains have sufficient capacity for or a maximum of 48 bikes on train sets bikes. The average number of bikes on with two bike cars. Gallery cars outfitted board trains was 14; the average bike car with bike racks can accommodate 40 was 27 percent full. Out of 6,631 obserbikes, while a Gallery train set with two vations made during the study, a total bike cars has room for 80 bikes. In spite of this, Caltrain continues to be challenged to increase bicycle demand on its most popular trains. The issue is more complex than it would seem: a bike car that is full at one station can empty just a few minutes later when it reaches the next station. Tech-savvy riders have created their own notification system, using Twitter to alert riders about train capacity. Bike advocates are among the most A bicyclist prepares to load his bike onto a dedicated Caltrain car.

of 55 people with bikes were unable to board the train because the bike car was full. In addition, Caltrain has 960 bike lockers at 33 stations, two bike storage sheds, and a staffed bike parking station at its San Francisco terminal. With only 67 percent of its lockers rented in 2008, the agency conducted a study to look for ways to improve bike parking at stations. Caltrain’s Bicycle Access and Parking Plan focused on how to improve bicycle access at the system’s 10 most popular stations. The plan looked at innovative ideas to manage on-board bike demand, such as a bike sharing program, congestion pricing, and folding bike subsidies. The agency also recently formed a Bicycle Advisory Committee, which met for the first time in August and will be instrumental in guiding the agency’s future efforts. “It is our hope that the committee will be a true partnership between Caltrain and this important segment of our customers,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michael J. Scanlon. “We want to work together to consider new ideas and innovative approaches befitting one of the world’s great cycling communities.”

September 27, 2010 | 53

Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting

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