No bikes on NJ TRANSIT trains Christmas Day. Eve?

Here we go again!  The Grinch is coming to NJ TRANSIT to kick you off the train on Christmas Day.  It's is another bike blackout day on NJ TRANSIT but not today Christmas Eve which seems backwards because today is a much busier travel day.  Considering that reality don't be surprised if crowded trains today force conductors to kick you off today too.

In case you haven't memorized the rules:

Bicycles are not permitted on trains (with the exception of the Atlantic City Line) on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day after Thanksgiving, Sunday after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Bicycles are not permitted on the day before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but are permitted on the holidays themselves.

So if you didn't read this in time and you wind up stranded somewhere remember that you can take your bike on the Atlantic City Line, most buses, ferries, PATH and NJT light rail. Bolt Bus will accept bicycles if space is available.

We still feel that if NJ TRANSIT added vertical bike racks to all of its rail rolling stock like that found on the German made RiverLINE lightrail cars, the space efficient storage of bikes would make the need for blackout dates a thing of the past.  RiverLINE trains have no blackout times or days which we feel is in part due to the well designed on-board vertical bike racks.  Connecticut DOT is doing just that and is paying for Metro North RR to install racks on trains serving the New Haven Line.

Bike racks on the NJ TRANSIT RiverLINE.  When not in use
passengers can fold down the seats and sit down.  This space
efficient design could easily be retrofitted to most NJ TRANSIT
heavy and light rail rolling stock.

NJ TRANSIT along with Metro North/Long Island RR and Chicago's METRA are the only commuter rail lines with black out dates. However recently we heard that METRA is narrowing its rush hour restrictions and eliminating black out dates.  With bicycling more popular then ever the time is now to modernize NJ TRANSIT's bike on rail policies.

NJ TRANSIT train bicycle Holiday Blackout coming this Sunday

I just happened to be watching the news moments ago and was reminded that Rosh Hashanah starts tomorrow evening.  Lucky for me I know NJ TRANSIT's bicycle policy better than almost anyone and remembered that, "Bicycles are not permitted on the day before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but are permitted on the holidays themselves."

Up until a few moments ago my plan to get to my bike education job in New York City, as it has been over a dozen times this summer, was to roll up to the New Brunswick train station at 7:45am tomorrow, with ticket in hand and get on the train that would get me to the job just on time.  Instead of taking the train with my bike to get to my job tomorrow, I will have to drive and take PATH (which has no such restrictions).  Lucky for me, I didn't find out about this at 7:58am as the train pulled into the station.  Lucky for me again, I have the option of driving a car.

If you end up riding any NJ TRANSIT trains tomorrow, particularly the busier North East Corridor, let us know if they were really too crowded to really warrant banning bikes.  Leave a comment here and tell us when, what line you used and between what stations you traveled.

Show your support to return bikes to NJ TRANSIT trains

Show your support for the recommendations to restore bicycle access to NJ TRANSIT trains at all train stations by attending the next NJ TRANSIT board meeting on Monday, June 11th at 9am at the NJ TRANSIT Headquarters in Newark. 

...once again with a bicycle?

Thanks to over 300 cyclists who signed our petition to restore access bicycle access at low level platform stations, a very responsive and concerned NJDOT Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Chairman, James Simpson quickly formed a taskforce to see what could be done to restore full access to the trains and other ideas that could help integrate bicycles more efficiently with NJ TRANSIT trains. 

While the recommendations are likely to pass the full NJ TRANSIT Board at the June 11th meeting, it would be a great gesture if we could get at least 10 cyclists to attend the meeting to that the Commissioner and the NJ TRANSIT Boards