Victim Of My Own Success...

[K'Tesh]

I wanted to have more butts on bikes... But today, I wanted to ride the bus into work w/a friend, but two bikes were already aboard...



Nuts...
K'Tesh

[Thom]

How does Trimet handle that? I can only see it becoming more of a issue as more people combine bus and bike trips rather than drive.

My commute includes a bus trip from Molalla to Mulino, which is serviced by a smaller, local service. When there has been a third bike want to board, the driver puts it in the wheelchair space.

Not sure what will happen to a third bike if there is already a 'chair on board.

Gotta admit, there are a lot worse problems....

[scdurs]

On C-Tran (Clark County, WA) once they allowed me to bring my bike on the bus when the rack was full and seat-belt it in the wheelchair space. This is done by tilting up the triple seat that runs lengthwise and using the belts intended for wheelchairs. Its been awhile since that occurred, so I don't know if they still allow it.

If that space was occupied I suppose you'd just have to wait for the next bus.

Steve

[Tait]

Trimet "handles" it by not allowing the biker to ride the bus (... at least, not with their bike). This is an occasional problem on some routes, but I haven't run into it frequently. Since 3-bike racks apparently aren't feasible, it's another reason why Trimet wants everyone to fall in love with folding bikes.

[PhatLipMagee]

I was curious as to how buses in Portland (and other bike-wise cities) handled this. In my fantastic visions of "real" cities, I thought maybe the buses had additional racks, in the back or along the sides or something. I heard that some buslines in California have places for surfboards and such.

We've had bike racks on the buses here for just over 2 years now and there have been a few occasions where there were already 2 bikes on the rack. Pretty sure each time, I wound up just biking the whole distance. The ride isn't terribly long (10-12 miles), but after waiting 30-45 minutes for the bus, being denied stings a bit. I imagine the ride could be further for some of you since Portland is much bigger than BR. But you probably don't have to wait near as long for a bus either.

I've never asked, but I'm pretty sure there would be no chance of putting the bike in the wheelchair space. The drivers here won't do anything courteous if they aren't obligated by the rules of the company. One driver (who is usually pretty nice) wouldn't stop at a red light to let a handicapped rider with crutches off the bus because there wasn't a sign there. She made him walk an extra block instead.

[SeaBike]

I have this problem quite a lot. Eventually TriMet is going to have to come up with a better solution to taking more than two bikes on any given bus.

[vincentpaul]

Originally Posted by SeaBike

I have this problem quite a lot. Eventually TriMet is going to have to come up with a better solution to taking more than two bikes on any given bus.

Practical solutions to the problem may be difficult as more and more people take up cycling. Cyclists take up a lot of space on a bus. I suppose you could conceivably remove several rows of seating and provide for vertical hangers for the bike and more hang-on straps for the riders. But in a given aisle you're still going to limit the bus' rider capacity. I'd think that many of the same factors that are increasing cycling likely to increase bus ridership by non-cyclists as well, which will increase the conflict on busy routes.

I'm considering a folding Bike Friday / Birdie for just this reason. The prices on these have really come down. My memory is that you can get a very serviceable model for about $300 now. When the worst of the winter weather hits I plan on taking the commuter train from Nimbus in Beaverton to the Tualatin stop, where I can either hop on the bike for a quick spin to the office or take a connecting bus. Folding bikes eliminate the problem completely.

[SeaBike]

Originally Posted by vincentpaul

Practical solutions to the problem may be difficult as more and more people take up cycling. Cyclists take up a lot of space on a bus. I suppose you could conceivably remove several rows of seating and provide for vertical hangers for the bike and more hang-on straps for the riders. But in a given aisle you're still going to limit the bus' rider capacity.

You're right. Some kind of more flexible seating like with the wheelchair space right now might work.

[djasonpenney]

Tri-Met is at an uncomfortable phase in its growth. It's almost complete enough that you can get where you need to go; if you live in Milwaukie, Tualatin, Oregon City, or Vancouver it just plain Sucks To Be You.

Also, connections are just plain wretched. The nearest bus is ten minutes from my house by foot and I can expect to about 45 minutes to elapse before I board MAX, whereas the MAX station is only ten minutes away by bike.

If I want to get to the other side of downtown, I can save about 20 minutes on my trip by getting off at the library stop, biking over the Steel Bridge, and then getting on another train at Lloyd Center. What were they thinking when they put the MAX in above ground in downtown? As far as I know they don't even have condemnation proceedings on the table for moving it below ground ever.

Most importantly, the flip side is the case at the other end when I try to get where I need to go; I could face another 30 to 60 minutes even after I get off af MAX or a bus.

At this awkward in-between stage in Tri-Met's development, the transit system is eminently more practical and cheaper than driving...but only if you have a bicycle.

In case you think I'm being unrealistic about this, I speak from personal experience. Some years ago I lived in Toronto for a short period of time, and I never needed a car--or even a bicycle! However, there were some key differences in Toronto's transit system from here.

• The train system was fully developed; it didn't have the huge gaps that Tri-Met still has. In all fairness, we're addressing this problem as time and resources allow.
• The trains have completely dedicated right of way. In downtown the stations are pretty far apart (like, perhaps as much as 1 km). Yeah, you may have to walk as much as ten minutes to get to a train station. Deal with it.
• The buses run on a frequency of operation, not a schedule. When you walk up to a bus stop, it says something like "every 5 minutes 6 AM to 9 AM, every 15 minutes 9 AM to 4 PM, every 5 minutes 4 PM to 6 PM", and so forth. When you get on the bus the thing just screams along. You don't have to sit on the bus while the driver climbs off and picks his nose or whatever.

[scdurs]

On the bus from Camas to Fisher's Landing (Vancouver) there were five bikes on board. The driver said there would have been six if the last one didn't opt to ride. There were two on the rack in front, two strapped to the wheelchair belts, and one folding bike being held by it's owner.

Same thing occurred on the bus going to Washougal while I was waiting for the Vancouver bus. There were two on the rack, and two kids with bmx bikes were allowed to bring them on board and ride in the back.

The driver said they allow bikes onto the bus when the rack is full. Don't know what their official policy is because C-Tran wouldn't return my email message in regards to this.

As transit ridership grows, so does bikes on buses.