TriMet’s light rail trains have a well–documented capacity problem when it comes to bicycles.
It’s a tricky problem. TriMet’s mission is to move people, not their bicycles, yet we live in a multi-modal world where many people like to combine their trips with bikes and transit. TriMet would like to encourage people to use folding bikes or park at transit stations and then have a second bike at their destination. But for now — especially at peak hours — the capacity problem remains
In Stuttgart, Germany, they have a similar problem and they’ve come up with a great solution. Blogger Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious came across their “Vorstellwagen”, a platform made just for bicycles that runs between Marienplatz and Degerloch.
Granted, the train serves a recreational destination that’s high atop a hill with a 20% slope, but I still found this an interesting solution. Check out the City of Stuttgart’s website for more info (it will help if you know a bit of German).