2007 Benchmarking Report - Alliance for Biking & Walking

Bicycling & Walking in the U.S./ Thunderhead Alliance 2007
70
BICYCLING & WALKING POLICIES & PROVISIONS
A cyclist aboard BART.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GREG ZHOVREBOFF
The Bay Area Model for
Transit Connectivity
Oakland and San Francisco are two Bay Area
cities that provide models for bike-transit connectivity.
Both cities have equipped 100% of their buses with bike
racks. Bikes are allowed on trains except during peak
morning and evening commute times. BART (Bay Area
Rapid Transit) provides bicycle parking at all of its stations
and has recently installed a prototype bicycle stair
ramp at two stations to allow cyclists to easily roll their
bike up to street level. Caltrain, a commuter rail serving
the Peninsula area of San Francisco, allows bikes on all
trains.
Integrating Bikes and
Bikes on Buses
Transit
Of the 45 cities who responded to questions regarding bike racks
on buses, 73%, or 33 respondents, reported racks on 100% of city buses.
Only four cities: (Amarillo, Milwaukee, New York, and Omaha) reported
that none of their buses were equipped with bike racks. Cities ranked
well in this area overall, with 69% of city buses reported to be equipped
with bike racks. These cities are providing increased mobility options
through bike-transit integration.
Bikes on Trains
Data for bicycle access on trains is sparse, in part because many
cities surveyed do not have trains and thus responded “not applicable.”
For those that did respond, 30% reported bikes are allowed on trains 24
hours a day, seven days a week (for a total of 168 hours a week). Only
Memphis answered that bicycles are never allowed on trains. Other
responses ranged from 98 hours to 161 hours a week allowing bicycles
on trains.
Bicycle Parking at Transit
City Surveys also asked about bike parking spaces at transit
stops. Oakland ranked highest with 948 bike parking spaces at transit
stops equalling 25.4 spaces per 10,000 residents. The average among
the 32 responding cities is 1.7 bike parking spaces per 10,000 residents.
Thunderhead assumed that cities responding “NA” to this question had
no program for bike parking at transit, and were therefore entered as
“0.” While cities such as Oakland,
Washington, Miami, San Jose, Mesa,
and Sacramento all show top efforts
to provide transit access for bicyclists,
many cities have unsatisfactory
levels of bike parking at transit.
Legend: (table opposite page)
* = Offi cials could not access data
** = Not applicable
*** = Data unavailable or Thunderhead
could not access data
= High Value = Low Value