Ask BART to address blackout period in Bicycle Plan

Adina Levin's comments on the draft BART Bike Plan are right on target. BART is making great progress but it still needs to hear from bicyclists, and most of us are still facing restrictions when trying to use BART on an equal footing.

BART's new GM, Grace Crunican, and Steve Beroldo, Manager of Access programs, are two of many bike-friendly BART staffers who support expanding bike access throughout the BART system, but there are many more cyclists and allies like them at BART now.

The BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force (BBATF) on which I serve has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of support and communication it has received from BART staff over the past year, and this has greatly improved the BBATF's ability to do its work. We have literally spent many hours working with the designers and BART staff to refine the bike-carrying aspects of the new Bombardier cars and that work is far from finished.

The draft Bike Plan, despite its policy "blind spots" (not really considering blackout periods, for example) represents a significant step forward. BART's new GM, Grace Crunican, and Steve Beroldo, Manager of Access programs, are two of many bike-friendly BART staffers who support expanding bike access throughout the BART system, but there are many more cyclists and allies like them at BART now.

The BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force (BBATF) on which I serve has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of support and communication it has received from BART staff over the past year, and this has greatly improved the BBATF's ability to do its work. We have literally spent many hours working with the designers and BART staff to refine the bike-carrying aspects of the new Bombardier cars and that work is far from finished.

The draft Bike Plan, despite its policy "blind spots" (not really considering blackout periods, for example) represents a significant step forward in making BART more bike-friendly and accessible.

I take my bike on BART escalators all the time because doing so with my loaded Peugeot mixte is faster as well as safer for my fellow passengers than when I try to carry the heavy and ungainly bike up or down stairs--even those with stair channels. The bike is far more stable on a moving escalator (with the front wheel turned sideways and my hand on a brake) than it is when I drag it up the stairs or the bike is swinging as I try to carry it.

There were 4 bikes in the car we boarded on an 8-car Dublin-Peasanton train out of SF last night (TH, 5-124) at 10:20 PM. Accommodating our 2 bikes was a simple matter of courtesy and communicating: we asked a couple of standing passengers to move out of the marked bike space and they helped us out.

Asking someone to vacate a flip-down seat in the new Bombardier cars will be simple as long as BART passengers are cordial and civil with each other, which is usually the case, even on crowded SRO trains with and without bikes on board. Ending the bike blackouts will also be just as simple--as long as all passengers, including bicyclists use common sense and common courtesy, and do not overcrowd any BART car (a rule applying equally to ALL BART passengers at all times). aking BART more bike-friendly and accessible.