Evidence points to shift in TriMet bike policy

The \”peak hour bike pass\” option sounds perfect to me.

Maybe $5 to $10 a month for a pass that allows you to bring a bike on MAX during peak periods.

That can reduce bike numbers, profide some funds for other bike services (like better storage), and still give those who need it the most the option.

All other times could be free…

I remember when I had to get a bike permit to take bikes on TriMet and then they were only allowed at the back of the car, and not in peak directions peak hours. So they tried letting bikes on all the time, but seems like it might not be a perfect approach.

Some restriction would be OK to me as long as they provided options.

I think that multi-nodal is the answer, and that bike trees do not require banning bikes during rush hour; better and more bike racks, a surcharge for rush hour bikes and more trains during rush hour are all answers.

what about external bike racks on the trains? I dont know if its plausable but worth looking into.

I think making MAX useful to the greates number of people is the answer, making it hard for any one group of commuters isnt.

I guess I will just go back to drive to work….
I got the survey yesterday and saw the trick questions…
TriMet sure does not make it fun to commute by bike, today the MAX driver closed the doors while I was looking for a better door to enter the train.
The bus drivers and many car drivers are not very respectfull to bike commuters, making my commute not safe and not fun.
Too bad.

How about bike-commuter express buses, equipped to carry many bikes inside but only between major transit stations. More bikers would use the buses because they\’d be faster than standard stop-every-block buses, and thus fewer bikes on the MAX.

I\’ll make a deal Trimet, let us use the light rail at all hours from Goosehollow to Sunset TC. Or I\’ll just completely ignore your rules.

Could they add a car at the end of the train that would be free from seats. Just over head rails with lots of hooks. It could be for all users with strollers, shopping carts, bikes, luggage etc.

Question: Are they going to start banning users carring luggage to the airport during peak times?

I\’ve seen people taking up multiple seats with their pile of luggage as they head to or from the airport.

How is this any different than bikes?

And what about people travelling back from Ikea on the MAX with their hoardes of huge flatpack furniture boxes?

I guess TriMet should just ban Ikea customers while they\’re at it too. (Joke. Sort of).

In the spirit of compromise, I\’d gladly pay for a monthly or annual bike pass. It means that in addition to me being a paying customer, now my bike is a paid piece of freight, giving me legitimacy equal to all other riders. This pass should also be required of anybody bringing anything larger than a carry-on bag on the train.

SHUTTLE BUS TO HILLSBORO

Run a bus for bike-commuters on HW26. It would offload cyclists at all the major exits on HW26. The reason it would work with cyclists is that they could then ride the 2-3 miles south/north to work from there. It will be easy to modify this bus to have extra bikes.

One of the shorter buses that Trimet has can be modified to include bike racks in the back.

Alternately, one could design a bus that would allow bikes inside the bus. If you remove the seats in the front, and have a bike rack/hooks like on the MAX, you can have 15-20 bikes on a bus- in addition to the two on the front. The riders could sit in the back of the bus.

If they absolutely must have a rush hour ban, they should be willing to install a considerable number of bike storage lockers, at each station, and provide them at reduced cost. DC bike lockers cost $70. a year, which I think is too much. That way bike-max-bike commuters could have a locker and a bike at each end of the commute.

I\’d be happy to pay for a bike pass as well, as long as the cost was reasonable. Maybe $20, like the recently passed monthly bike commuter benefit? At any rate, they should only be required during rush hours and during certain events (events at the Rose Quarter, PGE Park, etc) – that way John Q. Recreational Cyclist would be able to take his bike on the MAX to ride the Springwater Trail on Saturday afternoon without having to pay for a pass.

However, I will fight hard against any attempt at an all-out ban on bikes on TriMet during rush hours. I sincerely hope TriMet is willing to work with Portland\’s cycling community via advisory committees, town hall meetings and so forth to work on these issues instead of making an ironclad decision and siccing fare inspectors and drivers on us.

In the center section where the seating faces inwards, remove a section of seats, put up bikes hooks and hand straps. People can stand when no bikes and if the hooks are set up properly, plenty of room.

You know what, Tri-Met is getting out of hand and if they don\’t shape up we are going to be stuck with a crappy public transit system.

Sorry Viddy, if the bikes aren\’t near the doors you\’ll never get in and out of the train without really p*ssing off the other passengers at peak times.

It is a conundrum, bikes and other cargo do take up a lot of space on the trains.

I think they should just remove the seating all together. Think about the passenger density you could achieve?

What about removing the seating from the elevated section at one end of the train? Good access to the doors.

The problem is that there are too many people on the MAX during rush hour. The obvious solution is to ban people from using the MAX during rush hour…

Seriously though, most places I go in WashCo are outside an easily walkable radius from the MAX stations, so bike+max+bike is the only way the system can work. Also even if I could afford an extra bike, I often take the train to multiple different stations during the week (work in Amberglen, friends in Orenco, business in Hillsboro or Beaverton, school in Portland), and I can\’t afford to have a spare bike at each station.

A huge part of the crowding issue is that 70% of the people (non cyclists) who stand on the train, stand in the area by the bike hooks while other areas of the train remain comletely void of people standing. The hours they are considering imposing on the ban are rediculous as well. Previous posters have mentioned the inbound/ outbound issues. Common courtesy is what we need. I hate being on a crowded train with my bike and commute on it from gresham to beaverton daily. The most common place I board the max is through the tunnel on the days I\’m feeling lazy or its poring down rain. This is rarely an issue with space ever!

I am not trying to seem self-centered as a cyclist but the bottom line is Tri-Met needs to find a solution that will allow all of us to bring our bikes onboard the trains at any hour. Whether it is increasing frequency of trains or modifying the interiors.

I live, breathe and preach using public transportation to everyone and I don\’t want to be left standing in the rain.

@Residnet#36: I couldn\’t agree more. trains that are considered \’crowded\’ in PDX would be considered \’almost empty\’ in Tokyo, NYC or London. Step further into the car, folks, there\’s room for everybody!

Soon, we\’ll need to resort to \”train pushers\” like they have in Japan, to shove all the people into the center of the train so more people can fit on. I like the idea of \”shuttles\” at the end of the stations. Buses don\’t cut it, as they run too infrequently. It takes me a lot longer on soley public transport bus/max/walk, then to Max/bike it.

In Japan, you see people line up double file exactly where they know the train\’s doors will stop, and allow people to exit the train in the middle, then stram in from both sides. They do this all by themselves, very efficiently and without fuss. But then again, they have to provide special \”women only\” cars during rush hour for those who don\’t want to have their bottoms pinched!

My point is, I don\’t know what my point is, but they get a lot of people on a train there, probably double the density of the Max on all but Thirsty Thursday baseball games. If we packed \’em in like that here, we\’d have a car left over just for bikes!

I always come into these conversations late so I\’m probably repeating…

If I had to force myself and my bike on an overcrowded train every day, I would look for alternatives. I would voluntarily leave my bike on a biketree or bike locker at a transit station. I would also consider a bike at both ends if overnight bike parking were allowed. I would consider using a bike share pool at one end if that was available. I am VERY attached to my bike and want it with me everywhere, but I couldn’t deal with shuffling it around a crowded train every day. It would be an adjustment not having my very own favorite bike with me at both ends, but it wouldn’t be much more of an adjustment than it was to take up bike commuting in the first place. Max is more a convenience than a necessity for me so if it is crowded, I keep riding. Actually, I hardly ever try anymore and just keep riding. It’s ten miles, but I’m not tackling the West Hills or traversing four cities.

My point is that if these alternatives were available, maybe enough people would opt for them that it would relieve some of the problem and avoid a ban.

A ban would suck hard. Once the Red line gets past Gateway heading toward Gresham, your prospects of getting on MAX with your bike during rush hour improve. It would be extremely annoying if a ban stated No Bikes Anywhere at Any Time Between 6-9AM and 3-7PM and an over zealous operator kicked you off a train with ample space. Anyway, like Todd B #6 said, please provide and strongly promote alternatives before enacting a ban. Jonathan #14 said, Trimet has not decided on a ban. I hope it can be avoided.

I hope the online survey will provide space to post this when it comes out.

i had a day off today and decided to bike along the springwater corridor out to powell butte with a friend. just past se 122nd i got a flat tire. i couldn\’t fix it with the tools on me so i walk to the nearest bus stop and took the bus north to burnside and got on the max to head back into the city, where i live. this was at 5:00 p.m. i\’m glad that i didn\’t have to walk home or yield to slower forms of public transportation because i was traveling with a bike. especially because it was an instance when the max wasn\’t overly crowded during rush hour times and my bike was at no inconvenience to anyone but myself.

what if they make every third or fourth train during rush hour a bike only train? It would come approximately every 30 to 50 minutes, which would be a minor inconvenience, but if you planned accordingly do you think that would work?

How about charging twice the fare for people who are extremely overweight? Or charge more for the baby strollers? Or if someone has a bunch of luggage, charge them for it? Charge by the square foot occupied!
I ride my bike in from Willow Creek to Portland at 5:15 am every morning. There are more and more bikes on the train every day. I gave up on riding the train home at night because of the crowding. So, I learned to ride over the Zoo hill every night. The way it\’s going, I will be riding all the way in (15.5 miles) in the morning too.
Dan

BURR #11 writes:

I\’m sorry, but this is not a LAB Platinum City policy.

Agreed. (For those of you who don\’t know, League of American Bicyclists is the organization that does or does not give Portland a Platinum rating.)
I\’m not sure how closely LAB monitors bikeportland.org. Suggestion: write to them and let them know that you don\’t think Portland is ready for Platinum, until this issue is resolved. Andy D. Clarke, andy@bikeleague.org, is LAB Executive Director.
While you are writing, also mention other things that you think keep Portland from having a Platinum rating, such as Portland police targetting fixed gear bicyclists, Senator Burdick\’s quashing a bill that would fix that problem, the police ticketing bicyclists rolling stop signs in Ladds Addition while ignoring a hit and run on the I-205 bike path, etc. If you are a LAB member, mention that in your email. If not, consider joining.

@ #45:

Seth, it\’s good to see people thinking in terms of the big picture. We sorely need a public policy that will encourage bicycling if we\’re going to address our transportation problems and other major problems facing us. Yet it seems as though each time we take a step forward, our so-called leaders push us back. Sure, we get a lot of talk about bicycles, but we never seem to arrive at a coherent policy that encourages safe cycling. Instead, the authorities bumble along with inconsistent signals, citing fake safety concerns or some other nonsense.

Meanwhile, the bike revolution is being lead from the bottom up, by people like you. Maybe that\’s the way it should be, but at some point we\’re going to need the help of our institutions to get past the obstacles that are currently keeping people off bikes. When are people like TriMet, Senator Burdick, the Mayor, etc, etc, going to get a clue? Society has to change and bikes are a key part of that, so if you can\’t lead then at least get the hell out of our way.

Dan brings up a good point. I am also seeing more bike commuters on MAX (Good IMHO) but when gasoline goes above $3.00/gallon or the forecast calls for 90+ degrees, lots of people who don\’t ride the train frequently get on board. I imagine these \”sometimes\” commuters are the ones that complain to Tri-Met about crowding, dirty bikes, etc.

The only real problem cyclists I have seen on MAX are usually teens. I see a lot of kids with gunked up full suspension MTBs getting on at Goose Hollow during the evening rush hour and using it like a ski lift for repeated downhill runs through Washington Park. All the way to the Zoo the riders get treated to four or five guys blocking the aisles, not using the hooks, and serenading everyone with a constant barrage of F-bombs and other teen boy tough talk. The problem is that most folks on the train can\’t differentiate between these tools and regular people just trying to get home.

In addition to the LAB platinum considerations, we should also recognize the inherent contradiction in discussing an eastside bike path (parallel to 84)and limiting bike access to MAX.

An eastside bike path as it has been discussed would dramatically increase multi-mode commuting. But the path itself becomes somewhat less viable if it isn\’t part of an integrated transportation plan.

For that matter, one could make a similar point about any additional expansion of area bike ways, i.e. as stand-alone options are additional bike paths and bike boulevards financially worthwhile?

I hope that as this evaluation progresses, Tri-Met seeks input from a broad range of area players before making any decisions.

It\’d be nice if Trimet would give us a bit more info. I really doubt they\’ll be banning bikes on the trains because all those people biking overflow onto their bus system (both ways).

One cyclist taking up two spots on the train and biking both to and from the MAX. That\’s a total of two spots.

or

One former-cyclist taking one spot on a bus to MAX, one spot on MAX, one spot on a bus from MAX. That\’s a total of three spots.

Therefore, biking actually saves space for Trimet.

I think the best solution would be world class bike parking at nearly all MAX stops as well as world class bike rental at all (or nearly all) MAX stops.

Ride your bike from home to the station. Your MAX fare would give you a free bike rental to get to your final destination.

No need to ban bikes on trains because for most the deal would be too good to pass up. Bikes could still be banned from full trains.