Commentary: Muni Rail Needs to Lift its Bike Ban Before a Funding Measure Goes to a Vote

The experts at SPUR made it clear Wednesday—if it wasn’t already—that the Bay Area’s transportation agencies can’t find more efficiencies or cut their way out of the looming funding crisis.

I nevertheless think that BART and Muni have a couple of absurd policies that must stick in the craw of voters, making it harder for politicians and advocates to convince people to support another tax. I know that’s the case for me.

The most obvious one is the absurdity of Muni still turning away cyclists on its rail system. Over a decade ago, it was commonplace for transit operators in North America, including in the Bay Area, to either restrict cyclists during certain hours or ban them outright. The argument was always the same: a bicycle is taking up room that could be used by a paying customer.

But that argument, as advocates proved again and again, was just wrong. Bans turn away way more potential customers than their bikes displace. And the Dutch and other nations have shown, time and time again, that operators attract more customers when people have options for joining their transit trip with a bike ride to solve the “last-mile” problem.

Muni’s excuse was always that its trains in particular are too crowded. But if that were the case, then ban bikes during rush hour. Either way, that’s a laughably nonsensical argument now, considering the agency still hasn’t recouped its pre-pandemic ridership. The bike ban is literally lowering fare revenue at a time when Muni needs every dime.

Moreover, every other rail agency in the country has all-but lifted bike restrictions. Are we to believe that Muni’s operating conditions are that different from LA Metro, San Diego’s MTS, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, or all the other light-rail systems in the United States? VTA, which also runs light-rail vehicles in the Bay Area, has bike racks in the center of the cars to make it easier for cyclists, as seen in the lead image.

They even have a video encouraging cyclists to take their bikes on trains:

Muni should at least allow full-size bikes between Castro and West Portal, so cyclists can get between downtown and the West Side without riding around Twin Peaks. All the stations on that stretch have level-boarding and elevators, escalators or ramps.

Obviously, this alone won’t put Muni in the black. But it’s stupid to keep poking a subset of potential riders in the eye and then ask for money. It’s also just an absurdly outdated policy that makes no sense. Bikes offer increased mobility, synergy, and ridership that transit agencies should fully embrace.

The SFMTA board needs to stop nodding and just saying “good point” when this comes up in public comment at meetings. It’s time for someone on the board to write a resolution and bring Muni into the 2020s with its bike policy.