Caltrain’s Bike Bump form — a tool for cyclists to report when they’ve been denied boarding on trains due to overcrowding issues — is now available for use online.
The form is available online and is accessible from mobile devices here. When the mobile form is used, a notification will go out from Caltrain’s new Twitter account alerting cyclists about capacity issues. The bike bump form will be used to assist Caltrain in determining boarding trends and as a way to inform cyclists about daily ridership levels.
Caltrain’s Twitter feed will also post other relevant information, such as dispatch notifications of full bike cars, and other bike car-related news and updates.
There is currently a slight glitch on the mobile form that delays the first reported bike bump of the day. Caltrain is working with Google to resolve the issue.
The bike bump form contains information fields related to train departure time, date, boarding station, direction of train, and train number, if known. There is also a comment section provided for additional feedback.
Caltrain regrets any time a bicyclist is denied boarding because of capacity constraints. Caltrain currently dedicates two cars on each train for bike storage, resulting in 80 slots for bikes on the rail agency’s Gallery trains, and 48 on its Bombardier trains. Caltrain recently announced an initiative to dedicate a third car on its Bombardier trains for bike storage, which will soon result in 72 spaces being allotted for bikes.
Caltrain has experienced nearly 60 straight months of consecutive ridership growth, a trend that is putting a strain on its operations. Bike usage has increased significantly over that period of time.