Please help get bicycles on METRO's light rail
0 views
Skip to first unread message
Cycling Instructor
Dec 22, 2007, 12:24:17 PM12/22/07
to Houston After Oil
Electrified rail and bicycles are the two most efficient and least-
polluting modes for moving people on land. Bicycles get you quickly to
and from the local rail station; rail takes you miles without personal
effort. Combining bikes and light rail would therefore seem like a "no
brainer" as a way to induce Houstonians to give up their addiction to
private internal combustion transport.
But did you know that regular bicycles are currently banned from
Houston's light rail trains during the all-important weekday commuter
rush hour?* Furthermore, only two bikes are allowed on per train car,
which are as many as are allowed on the bus bike racks... and each
rail car holds many more people than the bus.
These timing and capacity limitations exist because Harris County
METRO chose not to install vertical bike hangers on its first fleet of
light rail cars. It is vitally important to change this mindset now
before the coming massive build-out of Houston's light rail fleet,
which will take place during 2008 - 2012. If this once-in-a-generation
opportunity is lost, we will not be able to have the same bicycle
access to light rail enjoyed by other cities throughout the USA.
Phoenix Arixona will begin light rail operations in December 2008. It
is a new, sprawling Southwestern city like Houston. Like Houston, the
weather there is hot (although dry). Based on their fifteen years of
positive bike-racks-on-buses experience, their Metro decided to
integrate bicycles and train modes by putting vertical bike hangers on
its light rail. Each of their rail cars will be able to carry eight
bicycles safely out of the way of passengers, as opposed to the two
which can be carried on our rail cars, and only during off-peak times,
and our bikes can potentially roll and crash into other passengers,
since they aren't in any kind of rack system.
Given the sprawling nature of Houston, it is important that our METRO
makes decisions similar to that of Phoenix. It is simply unrealistic
to expect people to walk a mile in the heat & humidity to get to the
train. Several people at a recent METRO Board meeting asked the Board
of Directors, "I'd like to use the train, but where will I be able to
park my car near the station?" Obviously, they don't get it! The point
of the train is that you don't use your car at all, you leave your car
at home. But bicycle riding will indeed allow them to travel a mile or
so from their home or office to the train station quickly, in five
minutes or so, before they dangerously overheat in our sweltering
climate.
If the train draws people riding bikes from one mile away to each
station, it will be far more successful than if it were only able to
draw pedestrians from a quarter-mile away. A one-mile radius circle
has sixteen times more area than a quarter-mile radius circle, after
all. It is extremely important that citizens make their preferences
known to METRO. I am urging all cyclists, transit fans, and
environmentalists to write to Mr. Frank Wilson, the CEO of METRO, to
let him know that:
o The new fleet of light rail cars needs vertical bike hangers, to
hold as many as eight bikes per light rail car
o The rush-hour bike prohibition needs to be lifted for suitably
equipped train cars
o Ample safe and secure bike parking needs to be provided at all
transit stops (a mix of regular bike racks and totally enclosed,
highly secure lockers)
o The folding-bikes policy (unlimited times, unlimited numbers, must
be covered) needs to be maintained
Please write a polite letter in your own words to Mr. Frank Wilson
CEO, METRO, 1900 Main St., P.O. Box 61429 Houston, TX 77208-1429
Also send copies of your letter to your Mayor and City Council Member,
your Harris County Commissioner, and your U.S. Congressional
Representative.
I thank you in advance for your help. Please join with me in helping
to make Houston and Harris County greener, more sustainable places.
And please forward this message to anyone who you think will help in
this effort.
Sincerely,
Peter Wang
polluting modes for moving people on land. Bicycles get you quickly to
and from the local rail station; rail takes you miles without personal
effort. Combining bikes and light rail would therefore seem like a "no
brainer" as a way to induce Houstonians to give up their addiction to
private internal combustion transport.
But did you know that regular bicycles are currently banned from
Houston's light rail trains during the all-important weekday commuter
rush hour?* Furthermore, only two bikes are allowed on per train car,
which are as many as are allowed on the bus bike racks... and each
rail car holds many more people than the bus.
These timing and capacity limitations exist because Harris County
METRO chose not to install vertical bike hangers on its first fleet of
light rail cars. It is vitally important to change this mindset now
before the coming massive build-out of Houston's light rail fleet,
which will take place during 2008 - 2012. If this once-in-a-generation
opportunity is lost, we will not be able to have the same bicycle
access to light rail enjoyed by other cities throughout the USA.
Phoenix Arixona will begin light rail operations in December 2008. It
is a new, sprawling Southwestern city like Houston. Like Houston, the
weather there is hot (although dry). Based on their fifteen years of
positive bike-racks-on-buses experience, their Metro decided to
integrate bicycles and train modes by putting vertical bike hangers on
its light rail. Each of their rail cars will be able to carry eight
bicycles safely out of the way of passengers, as opposed to the two
which can be carried on our rail cars, and only during off-peak times,
and our bikes can potentially roll and crash into other passengers,
since they aren't in any kind of rack system.
Given the sprawling nature of Houston, it is important that our METRO
makes decisions similar to that of Phoenix. It is simply unrealistic
to expect people to walk a mile in the heat & humidity to get to the
train. Several people at a recent METRO Board meeting asked the Board
of Directors, "I'd like to use the train, but where will I be able to
park my car near the station?" Obviously, they don't get it! The point
of the train is that you don't use your car at all, you leave your car
at home. But bicycle riding will indeed allow them to travel a mile or
so from their home or office to the train station quickly, in five
minutes or so, before they dangerously overheat in our sweltering
climate.
If the train draws people riding bikes from one mile away to each
station, it will be far more successful than if it were only able to
draw pedestrians from a quarter-mile away. A one-mile radius circle
has sixteen times more area than a quarter-mile radius circle, after
all. It is extremely important that citizens make their preferences
known to METRO. I am urging all cyclists, transit fans, and
environmentalists to write to Mr. Frank Wilson, the CEO of METRO, to
let him know that:
o The new fleet of light rail cars needs vertical bike hangers, to
hold as many as eight bikes per light rail car
o The rush-hour bike prohibition needs to be lifted for suitably
equipped train cars
o Ample safe and secure bike parking needs to be provided at all
transit stops (a mix of regular bike racks and totally enclosed,
highly secure lockers)
o The folding-bikes policy (unlimited times, unlimited numbers, must
be covered) needs to be maintained
Please write a polite letter in your own words to Mr. Frank Wilson
CEO, METRO, 1900 Main St., P.O. Box 61429 Houston, TX 77208-1429
Also send copies of your letter to your Mayor and City Council Member,
your Harris County Commissioner, and your U.S. Congressional
Representative.
I thank you in advance for your help. Please join with me in helping
to make Houston and Harris County greener, more sustainable places.
And please forward this message to anyone who you think will help in
this effort.
Sincerely,
Peter Wang
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages