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BART Board votes to permanently lift bike ban

Today the BART Board unanimously voted to modify BART’s Bike Rules. Effective December 1, 2013, BART will allow bikes on all trains at all times—with the exception of the peak commute hours (7 am to 9 am and 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm) when bikes will not be allowed to board the first three cars of any train.  The first three car rule provides an option for those who want to avoid bikes altogether. 

Other safety rules relating to bikes will still apply:

  •  no bikes allowed in the first train car at any time;
  •  bikes are never allowed on crowded trains;
  •   bicyclists must yield priority seating to seniors and those with disabilities;and
  •  bikes are not to block doorways or aisles and are not allowed on escalators.  

The Board vote to support bikes on board BART is based on monitoring several issues,” BART Board President Tom Radoluvich said.  “These include formalized feedback from our frontline staff, results of improved signage, reviewing best bike rule practices from sister agencies, increasing secure parking and establishing a trigger point for additional evaluation.”  The Board’s trigger is based on ridership: Staff will give a status report on the modified bike rules when BART has three consecutive months of an average of 450,000 weekday riders.

Concurrent with our pilots we implemented bike supporting measures as well,” Radulovich added.  “We reconfigured cars to allow for more space for riders with luggage, wheelchairs, strollers or bikes; launched our new bike etiquette campaign to encourage safe and courteous practices; and we continue to expand secure bike parking at our stations to help minimize the need to bring bikes on board, such as the 375 bike racks recently added in the paid area at seven stations.” 

BART ran three “Bikes on Board” pilots.  The first one took place on Fridays in August  2012, the next one ran for five consecutive weekdays this past March and the latest extended pilot is a five month test that began July 1. During all testing periods, BART invited comments from the public and conducted online random passenger surveys.  During the extended pilot, BART invited 4,921 riders to take the survey and 1,774 (36%) people responded.  “Survey results show that with each bike pilot, the level of bike acceptance grew,” BART Bicycle Access Manager Steve Beroldo said.  “In March, 76% of those surveyed favored lifting the ban as long as the first three cars are bike-free during commute hours.  Currently, 79% favor revising our bike rules.”