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“However, I think the very first item that needs to be raised with CTA to make the El/subway trains more bike-friendly is to allow bikes to be brought on at any time of day. Right now, they are not allowed at all during normal commuting times. This effectively makes a statement that bikes on CTA trains are only for recreational riding only. I understand the space issue at peak times, but still.” -MichelleBWLP (Bicycles on CTA currently disallowed on July 2, July 4, and between 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM)
I'm siting on the train, bike strapped to the opposite side with a few others when the conductor comes asking whose bikes they were. He starts to say that we needed to “get off” because there was a disabled person getting on.
I understand his position. He must accomodate them first. My heart started to race. The next train was over an hour. Will I be over an hour late for work because of this?
Luckily that conductor realized that the seat I was sitting in was ADA and the disabled person could sit there.
Without consistency, I can't trust using Metra. My first reaction would be “screw this, I'm buying a car”.
Suggested fixes: One of two things, dedicated bicycle infrastructure on the train, or more frequent trains. Sadly Metra isn't interested in the infrastructure, and our government is too cheap to do anything more than keep shoving more and more cars into downtown until we drown in them.