Bikes On Board - Nov 27 2017 UPDATE

Article Source: Bikes on Board

Dear Bicycle Commuters and Supporters.

Two bike thefts and one attempted theft from onboard Caltrain have recently been reported. Yet staff is proposing electrified car layout with no dedicated seats in the bike area, only three folding seats in the same location as wheelchair space. Caltrain staff proposed this ‘Stand or Steal’ configuration several years ago, but huge public outcry against it forced them to keep seats within view of bikes. But this time, staff made the decision in secret with no public input. To make matters even worse, staff is proposing to decrease bike capacity on electrified trains. We’ve got to turn this mess around!Take action to help prevent bike theft from Caltrain

Click here to email the Caltrain board and copy all the right folks!

Suggested talking points:

• Explain how important your bicycle is for your commute
• If you have witnessed a bike theft or attempted theft from Caltrain, describe what you saw
• Express concern about no dedicated seats within view of bikes on electrified trains
• Explain that cyclists standing in the bike car to guard their bikes will make it difficult to maneuver bikes and may delay the train
• Insist that staff follow the board’s 2015 directive for increased bike capacity on electrified trains with minimally 84 bike spaces per train, distributing bike spaces among all cars to allow seats within view of bikes
• Encourage Caltrain to include a fourth bike car in the seven-car diesel trains planned for the mixed fleet to make up for low bike capacity on electrified trains, the same way these long diesel trains will be used to make up for low seat capacity (electrified train sets will have 5 fewer bike spaces and 200 fewer seats than trains today!)
• Include your city of residence after your name

Update on Electrified Train Design

Thanks to your past emails and public comments at Caltrain Board meetings, we’re making some progress with Caltrain, but we have much more to do! Staff still plans to reduce bike capacity on electrified trains, but at least they chose bike stacking (same as today) instead of angled bike parking with even lower bike capacity, citing one hundred emails requesting increased bike capacity – thank you for writing those emails! Plus staff decided against bike hooks to hang bikes in the same location as wheelchair space. Baby steps in the right direction.In 2015, the Caltrain board unanimously approved more bike spaces in electrified train capacity (bikes per train), not line capacity (bikes per hour). Staff use the term “system-wide capacity” to confuse the issue. Staff are not meeting the board’s directive for electrified train capacity. Period.Electrified trains will have 25% fewer seats and 7% less bike capacity than today’s trains. Staff plan to run a mixed fleet of seven-car diesel trains with 921 seats to prop up the inadequate seat capacity on electrified trains, which have only 567 seats. We recommend that these seven-car diesel trains also be used to make up for inadequate bike capacity by including a fourth bike car.Staff is seeking additional funding to buy more electrified rail cars. We must keep the pressure on to ensure those new cars include more bike capacity!Report all bicycle bumps on Caltrain’s bump report formCaltrain needs to hear about bicycle bumps, or they’ll assume bumps aren’t happening. Please report all bicycle bumps using Caltrain’s bicycle bump report form, which automatically sends a tweet on Twitter. Reporting bumps is a continuing reminder that more bike space is needed now and on future electrified trains.Next Caltrain Board meeting December 7Can you make it to the Caltrain Board meeting at 10am, Thursday, December 7 at 1250 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos? Please respond to this email to coordinate public comment with us. We need to speak up to keep the pressure on!Relevant links

• For detailed information about what’s really going on, please see Concerns about Caltrain Electrified Train Design, updated November 2017
• Resolution from the San Francisco Bicycle Advisory Committeecalling for more capacity and better car layout on electrified Caltrain
• Local newspapers have published many letters to the editor from concerned Caltrain passengers
• Video of the November 2 Caltrain Board meeting

Please forward this email to other bike riders and anyone who cares about bicycle commuting. Thank you for your support! More bikes, no bumps,Shirley JohnsonOn behalf of the ol’ BIKES ONboard crewContact us at bikesonboard@sonic.net

Thank you for supporting bikes on board Caltrain.Our mailing address is:Bikes on Board 4th & King
San Francisco, CA 94107

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Robert Riechel

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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives

Source Credit: Bikes on Board

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