Better bike capacity and access for Caltrain

Caltrain constitutes part of the transportation network for many people who bike along the San Francisco Peninsula, as it stretches throughout most of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties and allows for bicyclists to travel over long distances. Caltrain riders can bring their bikes on board or leave them secured at Caltrain stations. Many people who live or work on the Peninsula or in Silicon Valley use Caltrain on a daily or weekly basis. Since 2011 Caltrain has accommodated bicycles on board the trains as well as providing bicycle parking at Caltrain stations. This has enabled many commuters to leave their car at home and choose an alternative mode of travel.

Caltrain’s data shows that of the 14% of passengers that bike to Caltrain, 13% of those bring their bikes on board and only 1% park their bike at the origin station. In addition, the system is experiencing at least 60 bumps/week (based on 2013 counts). Current train ridership, bike mode share and bicycle bumps will only increase over the next five to ten years as the economy grows and all of the communities along the Caltrain corridor build more housing and transit-oriented development as well as plan for significant mode shift to bicycles.

We encourage Caltrain to increase capacity in three areas: on-board bicycles, bike parking at stations, and bike share. All of these strategies address different types of users: some want to bike to and from their origin and destination stations; some are able to walk or catch a bus on one end of their trip; some have bike share stations at their Caltrain stop as well as their destination.