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Contact Jim Cameron, Commuter Council Chair (he's reading this post, too) to ask him to get on board with us in planning for bike-on-trains-at-peak-hours now.
"People are spending $350, $400 a month and they're standing," says Commuter Rail Council president Jim Cameron, who commutes daily from Darien to New York. "If there's no more room for passengers, how could there be room for bikes?" Cameron suggests revisting the issue in 2012, when all the M8s are scheduled to come online.
Keep in mind that some cyclists, who now pay $350 per month are not even getting on the train (during peak hours.)
Delaying planning for bikes-on-trains-at-peak-hours for 4 years is just not an option. Contact Jim at Jim Cameron <jim@...>
Yesterday evening I attended the Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance annual dinner. State Rep Tom Kehoe was the keynote speaker. He argued forcefully for "bicycle bill" S.B. 299 and including "bikes-on-trains at peak hours" language in a transportation funding bill and broader goals such as smart growth and locally grown food.
State Rep Kehoe strongly urged the bicycle community to contact 4 key legislators + Governor Rell to request passage of a transportation bill, which includes "bikes-on-trains-at-peak-hours" language.
Governor M. Jodi Rell <Governor.Rell@...>
State Senator Donald J. DeFronzo <DeFronzo@...> Co-Chair Transportation Committee
State Rep Antonio Guerrera <Tony.Guerrera@...> Co-Chair Transportation Committee
James A. Amman <jim.amman@...> Speaker of the House
State Senator Donald E. Williams <Williams@...> President Pro Tempore
cc: your state rep & state senator
Convey this message to elected officials -
we are seeking the following changes on Metro-North New Haven trains:
(policy change) allowing bicycles on peak hour trains
(policy and design change) including dedicated bicycle parking area on M-8 and CSR train cars
(policy change) discard bicycle permit requirement
Something that State Rep Kehoe did not mention -
Ask the Governor & legislators that the State of Connecticut officially exercise the option to buy the 80 additional cars immediately.
here's the adjusted net seat gain formula: (80 M-8 cars + 300 M-8 cars + CSR rehab) - seat loss for bike parking space = 30 percent increase in seats for New Haven Line
communicate that message separately to Metro-North Railroad (MNR) President, Peter Cannito at <cannito@...>
read carefully:
today I learned that bar cars account for a loss of 92 (out of 120) seats per car and there are currently 10 cars. that = a loss of 920 seats. i also learned that the new M-8 bar cars are still in design. the M-8 bar cars will account for a loss of a minimum of 72 (depending on whether or not they install 28 seats or less) and 10 to 12 maybe ordered accounting for a total loss based on a 12 bar car order of no less than 864 seats.
to put that in perspective, we are asking for space equivalent to 600 seats for a 300 (= 30,000 seat) M-8 car order. with regard to the "CSR" (Critical Systems Replacement rehabbed M-2's), we're seeking Caltrain-style bike cars. out of 132 train cars now committed for the program we're seeking a conversion of 12 train cars to bike cars with a space equivalent to approximately 40 seats (leaving 80 seats intact) per bike car. that's = to converting 480 seats to bike parking space out of a 15,840 seat total in CSR M-2 rehab program.
Summary:
Bar car seat loss = 1784 seats
Bike space seat loss = 1080 seats
Please review these calculations in advance of Monday's ECC meeting in forming our arguments for bike space on trains.
At ECC's meeting Monday Jason Stockmann will confirm the New Haven bikes-on-trains-at-peak-hours committee, which will meet with C-DOT official, Gene Colonese. Contact Jason at bauhaus2@...
This also is a call out to volunteers to sit in the New York City delegation, which will meet with Bob MacLagger, the MNR liason whom Peter Cannito assigned for bikes-on-trains-at-peak-hours follow up meetings. Steven Faust serves as the organizer of the NYC delegation. Contact Steve at toeclip@...
Richard Stowe
Rail*Trains*Ecology*Cycling
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