CHICAGO — Metra has seen a 70% increase in bicycles brought onto its trains since it made its more bike-friendly policy permanent on Feb. 1, Streetsblog Chicago reports.
Metra had relaxed its policy, which previously restricted bikes to non-peak trains, during the COViD-19 pandemic, when it also began introducing its fleet of bicycle cars [see “Metra debuts new bike car …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 6, 2020]. It announced earlier this year that policy would remain in place, while outlining more details, including cases where bicyclists could be denied entry to accommodate passengers with accessibility issues.
Aaron Maertins, Metra’s operations director, told an online meeting of Metra’s Bicycle Working Group that in February and March of this year, the commuter operator carried 19,000 and 22,000 bicycles, respectively. That was up from 10,000 and 14,000 in the same months last year. Overall in 2023, Metra carried “the highest number of bikes in our recent history,” Maertins said. There were just four incidents of bicyclists being denied entry in those two months, he said.
The increased bike carriage comes as Metra continues to introduce what it calls “Bike Car 1.5” equipment — cars in which three rows of seats have been removed to create room for racks accommodating up to four bicycles. (The “Bike Car 1.0” fleet is the original group of bike cars, Pullman-Standard cars in which seating was removed on one side of the lower level to make room for up to 16 bicycles). As of April 8, 35 of the Bike Car 1.5 cars are in service; Metra is aiming to introduce 50 of the cars initially.
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