Editorial Editorial (August 06, 2004)

Cyclists getting squeezed

Cyclists who expected to find plenty of room on Caltrain's new baby bullet trains to San Francisco and San Jose are finding that there is limited space (only 16 bikes per train) for bike storage on board, and that there isn't much hope for more in the future.

Unfortunately, these commuters, who are among Caltrain's most loyal customers, may be forced to either choose a slower "milk run" train, which adds at least 30 minutes to their trip, store their bicycles at a station or find another transit option so they won't need their bikes on both ends of the train ride. On the positive side, the slower trains offer space for 32 bikes.

For Caltrain, on-board bicycle storage is a problem with very few solutions. More cars cannot simply be added to trains to accommodate bikes, Caltrain spokesperson Janet McGovern told the Voice a few weeks ago. Longer trains do not fit well at most stations, and the cost, at $2 million each for a new bike car, would be prohibitive anyway.

It appears that the best hope for cyclists will be to store their bikes in lockers similar to those provided in Palo Alto. McGovern said Caltrain is studying whether such a storage area could be built in San Francisco. Mountain View has 52 free bike parking spaces at an indoor shelter near the train stop, but even that is underutilized.

Other Caltrain stops have storage areas, locked in some cases and not locked in others. This solution would accommodate only those cyclists who could use public transit or other transportation when they reach their destination.

Caltrain knows that cyclists are a small but loyal group of customers and doesn't want to lose them, but there does not seem to be a solution in sight that will give them unlimited capacity to store bikes on baby bullet trains. Still, we would like to see Caltrain work to accommodate more bikes. Meanwhile, it will be up to cyclists themselves to create ways at their departure and destination points to take full advantage of the baby bullets.

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