"Riding my bike and taking Caltrain is productive," says one of my good friends, Sofia Gleeson. "I get my exercise in and can do homework." Sofia's morning commute includes taking a San Francisco-bound express train and then biking about a mile from the train station to school. She loves being eco-friendly, but her main concern, along with many other bikers, is that there is frequently not enough space for bicycles on board the trains. Despite the difficulties in finding space, she still buys a monthly Caltrain pass and continues her train-to-bike commute.
Caltrain is one of the only commuter rail systems in the United States that has designated bike cars. Trains hold anywhere between 16 and 32 bicycles depending on the type of rail cars used. In the last four years, Caltrain's daily ridership has jumped by 30 percent and trains at rush hour are becoming much more crowded. Many bikers now have trouble finding space on trains and are disappointed with the new rail cars. The older cars held twice as many bikes, but usually run on the local. Caltrain has built new bike lockers at stations and has encouraged people to park their bikes at stations, but that would mean having to walk on one end of the commute (or purchasing two bikes). With the current budget deficit, Caltrain does not have the funds to buy new rail cars or to lose rush hour passengers by removing seats. Caltrain has mentioned on its website that it wishes to expand the bicycle program in the future.
Photo: A crowded bike car on Caltrain. Photo by Flickr user richardmasoner. Used under the Creative Commons License.
