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Metro to allow bikes and scooters on its trains during all hours of service
Metro to allow bikes and scooters on its trains during all hours of service
The new policy begins on Monday, Jan. 7
By Andrew Giambrone Jan 3, 2019, 9:21am EST
Commuters will be able to bring bikes and scooters onto Metro’s rail system at any time of service, including rush hour, as of next Monday, Jan. 7. The transit authority is expanding a policy of allowing them on trains in response to feedback from bike advocates, it announced this week. Since 2001, bikes have been banned on the rail system during rush hour—from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays—even as bike use in D.C. has surged.
“We believe this change supports ridership growth by Metro and a commuting option for those who want to have a bike with them,” said Joe Leader, Metro’s chief operating officer, in a statement. The transit agency says it seeks to increase the share of its customers who arrive at its rail stations via bike to more than 2 percent by 2020, from less than 1 percent in 2016.
Metro adds that it reviewed its most recent policy and concluded that it could end the rush-hour ban “without significant negative effects,” in part because its new 7000-series trains have more open space than their predecessors and most of its rush-hour trains are currently eight cars long. Metro says it expects the change to benefit reverse commuters in particular.
....
Asked whether electric scooters and electric bikes would be allowed under the change, a Metro spokesman says nothing in the policy precludes them. “Same guidelines apply: give priority to seniors/people with disabilities, use the end doors (not the center doors), don’t carry them on escalators, and be courteous to your fellow riders,” he explains in an email. Metro’s buses can also carry two full-size bikes at a time, on existing racks on their fronts.
....
The new policy begins on Monday, Jan. 7
By Andrew Giambrone Jan 3, 2019, 9:21am EST
Commuters will be able to bring bikes and scooters onto Metro’s rail system at any time of service, including rush hour, as of next Monday, Jan. 7. The transit authority is expanding a policy of allowing them on trains in response to feedback from bike advocates, it announced this week. Since 2001, bikes have been banned on the rail system during rush hour—from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays—even as bike use in D.C. has surged.
“We believe this change supports ridership growth by Metro and a commuting option for those who want to have a bike with them,” said Joe Leader, Metro’s chief operating officer, in a statement. The transit agency says it seeks to increase the share of its customers who arrive at its rail stations via bike to more than 2 percent by 2020, from less than 1 percent in 2016.
Metro adds that it reviewed its most recent policy and concluded that it could end the rush-hour ban “without significant negative effects,” in part because its new 7000-series trains have more open space than their predecessors and most of its rush-hour trains are currently eight cars long. Metro says it expects the change to benefit reverse commuters in particular.
....
Asked whether electric scooters and electric bikes would be allowed under the change, a Metro spokesman says nothing in the policy precludes them. “Same guidelines apply: give priority to seniors/people with disabilities, use the end doors (not the center doors), don’t carry them on escalators, and be courteous to your fellow riders,” he explains in an email. Metro’s buses can also carry two full-size bikes at a time, on existing racks on their fronts.
....
When I started riding the service into DC every day back in 2009, there was a guy who brought a gasoline-powered scooter onto the train with him. Someone finally caught up with him and made him stop doing that.
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