Caltrain to Add More Bicycle Cars

Caltrain's board of directors on Thursday approved a resolution that will increase space for bicycles on its weekday train service, a transit spokeswoman said.

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board of Directors adopted a resolution that will expand this year's budget by $300,000 to pay for the Gallery Car Bike Rack Installation Project, Caltrain spokeswoman Tasha Bartholomew said.

The project will convert 10 standard gallery cars into bike cars, allowing each weekday train set to increase its capacity to 80 spaces in two bike cars, Bartholomew said.

Current service has some train-sets with one bike car, and some with two. "We are very pleased to hear the news," San Francisco Bicycle Coalition policy director Andy Thornley said. "We've definitely been working with a lot of energy with the notion of getting the service consistent," Thornley said.

The conversions are scheduled to be completed and the new bike cars are expected to be put in service by the end of June, Bartholomew said.

Thornley applauded Caltrain's administrators for continuing to work with the biking community to accommodate a growing number of biking commuters, who Thornley said are some of Caltrain's "best and loyal customers."

"Caltrain is already a world leader in sustainable regional trip-making," Thornley said.

The money to pay for the train car conversions will come from a combination of Proposition 1B funds, Federal Transit Administration funds, and savings from existing projects, according to Caltrain staff reports.

-Bay City News