Most of us know that when it comes to bicycles anything goes, no enforcement of the bike policies during rush hour. That's good for bicyclists bad for everyone else
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@cassiepoe They can be reached via email at bikes@trimet.org -
@cassiepoe It sounds like you have lots of ideas for improvements. It would be great if you could share them with our bike folks... -
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@trimet This is not about what "I" can do. This is about what "you" should be doing as a public transit entity in a changing region. -
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@trimet do you think bike people enjoy struggling to cram themselves into unavailable spaces either? -
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@trimet You are lazily pushing the issue onto individual consumers rather than addressing the systemic issue, a disservice to all riders. -
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@trimet If your 'answer' were to be adopted for regular use, EVERY train would be stopped during peak hours, EVERY day and night. -
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@trimet Adding a third bike-only car with seats removed, or a special bikes-only single car train between regular trains - why not? -
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Dear
#trimet, please plz plz add a bike only car to the max lines at peak hours: there are five of them or more at every door! It's unsafe! -
@cassiepoe Thank you for the feedback about bikes on MAX. For more on what you can do next time: http://bit.ly/15O30QN - .
@trimet This isn't an acceptable answer. It's time to make a more substantive change. I <3 bikes, but Max needs to adjust to reality of use
i,
The current way that bikes ride Max at peak hours are no longer safe for all users. Just yesterday I watched five bikes cram into an evening peak hour train doorway. Meanwhile, a senior citizen with a cane needed to access the senior citizen seat. He struggled to make his way around the bikes with his cane. It took him a great deal of effort to reach his seat. Meanwhile, a sixth bike crammed into the walkway, and in a vague attempt to ease the space crush, the rider began to hold their bike upright - with the upper wheel less than three feet from the elderly gentleman's face, wobbling as the train moved. I was incredibly concerned that the smallest jostle would cause the standing bike to fall onto the elderly gentleman.You have a severe overcrowding problem with peak hour trains and bike usage on Max. Every doorway is crammed with three, four, five, six bikes at a time. This is unsafe for all riders, not just the elderly. The bikers are not inconsiderate, but they are attempting to cram into a system that can not support them.I urge you to consider one of the following suggestions:1. Add a third car to every peak hour max train with the seats removed- create a "bike car".2. Add a single-car train during peak hours between regular cars with the seats removed and make it clear this is the bike car, that bikes are not to use any other car.The "answer" I was given on Twitter was unacceptable ("Thank you for the feedback about bikes on MAX. For more on what you can do next time: http://bit.ly/15O30QN"). If this "answer" were to be adopted by all users for regular use, every peak hour train, day and night, would be stopped and passengers delayed and inconvenienced even further. This "answer" pushes the resolution onto individual consumers of the system rather than addressing the real, authentic systemic issues. Bicycle use is exploding in Portland. This is not about what "I" can do. This is about what "you" must do as a public transit system responsible for safe transit for all users.If we were ever to have a major accident or even a sudden sharp stop for emergency reasons during a peak hour - or god forbid a crash- the current snarl of bikes and passengers could cause serious injury to your users. It is also arguably a violation of the ADA: (http://adata.org/faq/what-are-adas-requirements-public-transit-buses). Allowing bikes to block and crowd all the ingress points of the train violates this section of the ADA. I have personally seen bikes and wheelchair users struggle to find negotiation of limited space and compromise during peak hours.You can and must come up with a better solution than the current overcrowding of trains.
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TriMet
Adding a third car would actually cost in the tens of millions of dollars - all just for bikes? Really?
ReplyDeleteThink about it: Every single MAX station is designed for a TWO car train. And why is that? Because only two MAX cars can fit within a downtown city block. While light rail, in general, is capable of much longer trains, Portland's light rail system is limited to two car trains.
Even if you could extend the stations outside of downtown, you're looking having to lengthen every single station platform. That would include such engineering feats like Washington Park (that one in the tunnel), Sunset TC, and Parkrose/Sumner, and would also include stops like those in downtown Hillsboro which would require property acquisition and other matters.
And then...having to buy new LRVs, at only $4 million a pop. That's actually the easy part. (I would suggest just rebuilding the type 1 cars, but they have those steps and I'm sure the cyclist interests would not accept that.)
Really - TriMet has bent over backwards for cyclists, and has installed all those "Bike and Ride" facilities that are not used, bike lockers and bike racks. If the cyclists can't appreciate the things TriMet HAS done for them, the last thing we should be talking about are dedicated MAX cars. Leave the bike at home (or at your originating MAX station in one of those bike lockers). Or just skip MAX and ride your bike. It's bad enough bikes are allowed on MAX, even though one bike takes up the space for two or three standing passengers - plus the cyclist him or herself - yet they do not pay any extra fare to account for this.
Now this is where I think Erik isn't so unreasonable and can kind of agree with him.
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that having a third car is not practical. The person does also offer the suggestion of special bike trains, but that would take money (unless enough non-bicyclist capacity can be freed up so there doesn't need to be additional trips and cars), use track capacity and possibly take longer to load/unload.
The real problem from what I've read is that MAX is so slow and out-of-direction traveling through the central city that bicycling can be faster.
And that "skipping MAX and riding your bike" means climbing over the West Hills at a much slower pace then MAX goes.