Comments on: Caltrain Will Boost Bicycle Capacity But It’s Still Not Enough

By: Richard Masoner

Richard Masoner — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:17:49 +0000

Ken Yeager is brand new to the Caltrain Joint Powers Board representing Santa Clara County. Yeager is very supportive of bicycling and he’s a bike commuter himself. The other new JPB member, Ash Kalra from the city of San Jose, is known for his progressive politics.

Thanks for using my Flickr photo.

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:13:48 +0000

brian, many of those people don’t realize that the parking space they are using is a heavily subsidized service caltrain provides.

By: murphstahoe

murphstahoe — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:23:49 +0000

The folks suffering that trauma are generally people who never take Caltrain. If the “regular passengers” were strapped to the side of the train, I’d understand, but the reality is that the trains are not SRO. Occasionally some primary traditional commute direction trains get pretty full, or for a Giants game, but that’s it. The complaints come from non-riders who spend a lot of time contemplating how aggrieved they are by Critical Mass, and when they read an article about Caltrain and bikes they displace that anger on the Caltrain bike commuters.

Any trains that might be full will become much less full very soon as we dive into recession. This happened in 2001. And in 2001, the bike cars stayed full, because there is latent demand that will continue to be tapped, a laid off cyclist is replaced by a new cyclist who didn’t lose his job, and if that cyclist is not subject to bumps, he stays.

Laid off walk-on passengers are not replaced by those that are not laid off. People driving on the freeway who aren’t inclined to ride their bikes to Caltrain, will now be subjected to half price gasoline and empty freeways. Not exactly the incentive they need to switch to taking the N-Judah to Caltrain.

As for a bike sharing program – that has been floated but in practice is a non-starter. Bike sharing programs require sharing – but in this case people would ride their bike from the station to their office, where the bike would sit all day, until they returned it at night when nobody would need it.

By: brian

brian — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:18:54 +0000

I’ve heard a lot of folks who’re upset that cyclists are allowed more space than regular passengers, yet pay the same fare. The argument is of course, that the space that bikes take up, could be seats for more passengers. I think that idea has a few flaws. For starters, a lot of people only ride Caltrain b/c they can bring their bikes, and their trips would not be as convenient if they couldn’t combine those modes. In terms of the extra cost of the bicycles’ space, I imagine that cost is nothing compared to the amount of $ it’ll take to build the downtown extension tunnel. I note this b/c cyclists seem to be less reliant on a downtown caltrain stop versus pedestrians who have to connect with slower MUNI vehicles.

Now though, I’m wondering whether an effective bike sharing program implemented at the most important Caltrain terminal stations could also alleviate the crowding issues.