While other transit agencies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to greatly expand bicycle access to their trains, New Jersey Transit has quietly changed its policy regarding bicycles on trains that will severely limit those wishing to take their bicycles with them on their next trip, our friends at WalkBikeJersey report.
NJ Transit is now restricting bicycle access to all of its stations that do not have a high-level platform, including the key Hoboken Terminal. That ends up putting nearly half of NJ Transit’s 163 commuter rail train stations out of reach for cyclists looking to take their bikes. This new policy also does not make a distinction between full-sized, standard-frame bicycles and folding bikes. Read the full report here.
How is it possible for a taxpayer-funded transportation executive to unilaterally decide and execute such a policy? I’m a monthly pass-holder and I was never given an option to weigh in on this change. I was just prevented from taking my bike on the train the other day and was late for my doctor’s appointment in the city. This is a heinous infringement on our civil liberties – one of many I’ve encountered in the past few years of living in this state. It’s time we took NJ Transit to court. This policy isn’t about public safety: this is about fascists trying to limit the mobility of the non-automobile-owning, environmentally-responsible public. This is an outrage!
Well that is seriously disappointing! Why are they doing so much to discourage bike travel?
~C