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Tony Adams
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My Bike on Metra
I dragged my trusty Raleigh onto Metra's UP-West line (Chicago-Geneva) twice this week. My commute is a reverse, so I was able to take advantage of the program to get to my more or less 9-5 job in Wheaton.

The conductors have been entirely cooperative and helpful. Given Metra's long opposition to bikes on the trains, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Tying up the bike with a bungee has been the only even remotely difficult part of the process. One of the conductors told me that they were "trained to make sure that bikers secured their bikes with a bungee, but we were not told how." There is a bar underneath the row of folding seats in the bike area. I've been attaching my bike to that. It seems suboptimal for securing a bike since it is pretty close to the floor. (perhaps 8 inches?) Fortunately there is very little lateral motion, the train does not whip around any curves at high speed, so perhaps all that is really necessary is to secure the bike from rolling front-ward or backward. I lean the bike a bit to help stabilize it laterally.

Before last week, I'd ride my bike to the Oak Park station (about 7.5 miles) and leave the bike locked up there. By taking my bike on the train in the morning, I'm now able to ride all the way home from Wheaton - a great 25 or 30 mile ride, much of it along the Prairie Path.

a Except for Thursday. You probably already know this, but no bikes are allowed on the trains during any of the days of a major downtown festival such as Bluesfest (this weekend) and the Taste. Even though the festival had not started yet Thursday morning, the ban is an all day thing. I was not allowed on the train. As a result, I was an hour later than usual arriving at work. There was an announcement over the station PA about the bike ban given with plenty of time for me to take my bike down the stairs and lock it up. I was in a gambling mood and thought I'd take a chance that the conductors might listen to reason, that they might be allowed a bit of discretion. No such luck. The conductor who had the awkward task of refusing me, was about as sympathetic as one could get, short of letting me on anyway. I understand that they are in a crappy position and while I was slightly pushy, I remained polite and understanding about it.

The new train schedules state that eight bikes are allowed on that particular train. I dunno what will happen if the program gets more popular. Now, at Oak Park and Wheaton anyway, the doors only open on two cars. Practically, that means four bikes. Getting a bike from one car to another is possible of course, but it would not be easy.

And what about the day when there are already eight bikes on the train? It is early yet, but that day may come. Users of the system should be prepared for such an event.

Overall it has been a very positive experience. I even made a few new acquaintances as a result of the spectacle of something new and encouraging on the train.

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