(Photo: TriMet)
TriMet announced today that they have removed four seats in each of their WES Commuter Rail cars in order to make more room for bicycles. When WES opened back in January, the cars only had two designated hooks for bicycles, leading to immediate concerns from multi-modal commuters.
The issue has been on TriMet’s radar since mid-February when TriMet’s executive director of operations Steve Banta brought up the issue at a board meeting. The issue Banta raised is how to deal with the Federal Railroad Administration regulations that the WES must meet. Unlike MAX, FRA regulations say that any object that can fly and hit someone must be secured (whereas on MAX, it is OK to just sit with your bike, on WES it must be secured with a strap or hook).
As they hinted at back in February, TriMet has now put two sets of bike straps in each priority seating area. In addition to the two existing hooks, this brings total WES train capacity up to six bikes. Of course, riders using mobility devices and senior citizens have priority in priority seating areas.
Learn more about bringing your bike on WES here.