Re: [Ebbc-Talk] [Discuss] BART Bikes ONBoard web page up: please help end BART blackouts

Erik,

BART is often at or near capacity during some commute periods die to limited rolling stock.
But there is often room in the cars at the rear of BART trains even then. And ending the blackouts will
increase ridership and BART revenues significantly.

Bicyclists are the only BART users who are discriminated against and the discrimination needs to end. 
Cyclists are not second-class citizens and should not be treated differently than other passengers.

Several other classes of BART passengers who also take up more space than an unencumbered adult passenger
can currently get on any BART train with sufficient space: travelers with luggage, people using wheelchairs,
 and parents with baby strollers are some examples. 

No one is arguing that BART trains should be taken over exclusively by bicycles. Bikes--like any other passengers--are not
allowed to board crowded cars when there is insufficient room. All we want is an end to the artificial and discriminatory
blackouts. 

As to bikes on escalators--it is safer for many of us as well as our fellow passengers if our bikes are stable on an escalator
rather than swinging around out of control as we try to carry them up and down stairwells. (I take up less room and time on 
a moving escalator than I do using stairs in a BART station, too.)

Jon



On May 8, 2012, at 10:20 AM, Erik Freitag wrote:

> Jon, I'm generally in favor of allowing access to the escalators, although some of those yahoos shouldn't be allowed near any kind of moving equipment. 
> 
> I'm less sympathetic to the blackout period removal. I have several photos of solo cyclists taking up 2-4 seats (including the handicapped seats) during non-blackout periods. I can only imagine what the standing-room-only commute during a heavy commute will be like. 
> 
> 
> 
> On May 8, 2012, at 10:51 AM, Jon Spangler <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> Cyclists,
>> 
>> The BART Bikes ONBoard project page is live:
>> 
>> http://www.sfbike.org/?bobart
>> 
>> This project's foremost goal is to end the blackout periods now restricting transbay bike commuters. 
>> 
>> Permitting bikes to use BART escalators and gaining better station access at stations like 12th and 19th Streets 
>> are closely related priorities for BART BikesONBoard, which is supported by EBC, SFBC, SVBC, and other groups.
>> 
>> BART's just-released draft bicycle plan is also available through this link.
>> 
>> The EBBC cut its proverbial chainring teeth on BART-related access issues almost four decades ago and there are 
>> signs that BART may be close to changing its policies that have discriminated against cyclists for decades.
>> 
>> Please sign up now: help us end the blackouts and improve station access for all BART cyclists!
>> 
>> http://www.sfbike.org/?bobart
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Jon
>> 
>> 
>> Jon Spangler
>> Writer/editor
>> Linda Hudson Writing
>> TEL  510-864-2144
>> CEL 510-846-5356
>> [email protected] 
>> www.linkedin.com/in/jonmspangler
>> www.twitter.com/jonmspangler
>> 
>> 
>> "She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life."
>>   —Frances E. Willard, in A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle (1895)
>> 
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Jon Spangler
Writer/editor
Linda Hudson Writing
TEL  510-864-2144
CEL 510-846-5356
[email protected] 
www.linkedin.com/in/jonmspangler
www.twitter.com/jonmspangler


"She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life."
  —Frances E. Willard, in A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle (1895)

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