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Hello Bicycle Commuters and Supporters,
Sign this petition for more capacity and bike theft prevention on electrified Caltrain. Please share with others!
Why Signing the Petition Is Important
Caltrain's current electrification scheme has low capacity and encourages bike theft because there are no dedicated seats within view of bikes. But there is a chance for improvement, because Caltrain is seeking funding to launch with longer electric trains. We need to speak up now for better car layout and more bike capacity before train design is set in stone.
Seeking Volunteers to Promote the Petition
You can help promote our petition by handing out business cards on Caltrain. Please respond to this email if you're willing to pass out business cards in bike cars and on the platform.
Caltrain's Response to Bike Theft Concerns
Thanks to your voicing concerns about bike theft, Caltrain has been conducting a bicycle security review for the past few months. So far, the only change Caltrain has proposed is to create a bike theft report form. It's important to make reporting easier, but even more important to prevent theft in the first place! We need to keep pushing for bikes distributed among more cars to allow seats within view of bikes as a theft deterrent on electric trains. Please sign the petition.
Strong Advocacy at Joint Powers Board Meeting in April
Thank-you to the many bike riders who attended the April 5 JPB meeting and spoke up in favor of seats within view of bikes and in support of a grant application to run longer trains. At the end of April, Caltrain's application was approved for $164.5 million in state funding. This puts Caltrain one step closer to launching electrified service with eight-car electric trains instead of the currently planned six-car trains.
Caltrain Graphics Misrepresent Electric Train Capacity
Ever wonder why Caltrain graphics show a capacity increase when electric train capacity is lower than today's trains? Caltrain plans to run a mixed fleet of six-car electric and seven-car diesel trains with one more train per peak hour. Each diesel train will have a whopping 910 seats compared with only 567 on an electric train. Caltrain graphics don't explain that, but this spreadsheet does.
Bikes-board-first Pilot
Caltrain is conducting a pilot program at several stations asking people with bikes to board the bike car first. Bikes-board-first has two distinct advantages (1) bike riders have first choice of seats in the bike car to guard bikes against theft, and (2) walk-on passengers can board at other doors to speed boarding. We applaud Caltrain for conducting this pilot.
Report all Bicycle Bumps
Please report all bicycle bumps using Caltrain’s bicycle bump report form, which automatically sends a tweet @BikesOnCaltrain.
Please forward this email to other bike riders and anyone who cares about bicycle commuting. Thank you for your continued support!
Oh, did you sign the petition yet? :-)
More bikes, no bumps,
Shirley Johnson
BIKES ONboard Project
Contact us at bikeso...@sonic.net
Ask other bike riders to email us to be added to our mailing list.
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