Note: I'm currently on a family trip and not working normal hours. Email and message responses will be delayed and story and posting volumes here and on our social media accounts will not be at their usual levels until I return to Portland September 4th. Thanks for your patience and understanding. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor

Ask BikePortland: Why can’t I take my Biketown bike on TriMet bus/MAX?

Bike to transit = good. Bike on transit = bad.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Today’s questions comes from reader Chris C.

Chris was surprised when a TriMet operator told him he couldn’t put his Biketown bike on the bus rack. Here’s his question:

“I learned from first-hand experience today that a TriMet bus will not allow a Biketown rental bike to be transported, because it is a Biketown bike. (I don’t believe there’s a similar restriction on the MAX trains, but I may be wrong.) Do you happen to know the public policy reason for that rule?”

I first reached out to TriMet and they pointed me to Biketown’s terms of service which state bikes, “cannot be taken on a car, ferry, bus, streetcar, MAX or train…”

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I then put the question to Lyft, the company that owns Biketown operator Motivate Inc. Lyft Communications Manager Fatima Reyes clarified that this policy was hashed out with TriMet when the system launched in 2016. Reyes shared four key reasons for the policy:

1) It’s a priority to reserve space for people’s personal bikes on transit.

2) While not perfect in all cases, we want people to bike to transit, ride, and then hop off and find a bike on the other side (this also keeps costs lower for the user).

3) Bringing bikes onto TriMet increases the potential for people to leave the service area with BIKETOWN bikes – this increases the risk that the user will end up paying out-of-service fees. Also, it can and has resulted in bikes ending up miles away from our operation, which is expensive and time-consuming to resolve (think pulling an operations employee away from their main job to drive halfway the coast to get a bike that ended up on the MAX to Hillsboro).

4) Our bikes can be heavy and someone could hurt themself lifting it onto transit (or risk damaging the bike racks); if they abandon the bike then the TriMet operator is stuck removing the bike.

These seem like reasonable concerns. This question also reminds me of a debate we’ve had for years in Portland about taking bikes on MAX. Many people want TriMet to expand bike capacity but the agency has made it clear they want limited space to be used for bodies, not bikes.

Do you have a burning bike question? Share it with us and we’ll either find an official answer or crowdsource one from our esteemed and knowledgable readers.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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David Hampsten
David Hampsten
4 years ago

Up until recently, there were also various legal restrictions from the Federal Transit Administration on the relationships between public transit agencies and private vehicle-share companies, since removed under the current administration.

Todd/Boulanger
Todd/Boulanger
4 years ago

We in Honolulu (Biki bikeshare) have similar policy for primarily #3 reason: Bringing bikes onto transit increases the potential for people to leave the service area which is expensive and time-consuming to resolve…especially if there is a flat tire (as one cannot just fully remove a tire from a modern bikeshare bike at any bikeshop). Such a policy tends to help more than it hurts the typical customer…in out experience.

Michael R Harlan
Michael R Harlan
4 years ago

It’s a bike ride it!

Jason
Jason
4 years ago

Some plans are pay per mile.

James S
James S
4 years ago

Why should TriMet enforce a rule that is between a private company and a private citizen?

It would be like Trimet banning you from bringing a laptop on board because you have a pirated movie on it. It’s simply not their concern.

Bill
Bill
2 years ago
Reply to  James S

It’s cause it’s Nike, they own this town

Tony Rebensdorf
Tony Rebensdorf
4 years ago

I’ll also mention that I have been forced to take my large Dutch style bike off of the MAX train. The inspector stated at the time only standard sized bikes are allowed on the trains.

Hello, Kitty
Hello, Kitty
4 years ago

Same thing happened to me and my Penny-Farthing.

Mark Ginsberg
Mark Ginsberg
4 years ago
Reply to  Hello, Kitty

that’s a standard sized bike, just not from this century!

X
X
4 years ago
Reply to  Mark Ginsberg

Well split!

GlowBoy
GlowBoy
3 years ago

I have had my cargo bike on a MAX train, though not legally.