March 9, 2009

TriMet commits $1 million for bike Park & Ride facilities

Stimulus funds will provide secure parking for 250 bikes, upgrade 100 older bike lockers

At the Bicycle Transportation Alliance annual awards dinner on Saturday, TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen announced that the agency is dedicating $1 million of stimulus funding to expand and improve bike parking facilities throughout the transit system. The stimulus funds will create a pilot project for bike Park & Ride facilities as well as upgrade older lockers.

With tremendous growth in bicycling in the region, there are limited options for bringing bikes onto the transit system, especially during rush hour. Each MAX train has space for four bikes, or eight per two-car train consist; buses have space for two bikes on the outside rack. Even if TriMet doubled the bike capacity on its MAX trains, it would never meet the demand, especially during rush hour. Instead, TriMet has followed the model of bicycle capitals of the world, such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen, that rely on bike parking facilities to make the connection to transit work on a reliable basis for commuters.

"More riders are using bikes to get to transit, and with limited options for bringing bikes on board, having more secure bike parking facilities helps to make the bike/transit connection work," said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen. "We know that bikes and transit make the region more accessible, and adding more facilities will make the bike/transit connection more reliable."

The $1 million of stimulus funds will increase secure bike parking by 65 percent over the current 380 lockers. The funds will launch a bike parking pilot project that will add:

• Secure bike parking for 250 bikes at the Beaverton and Sunset transit centers, where morning trains are crowded and demand for bike parking has far outstripped the current facilities.
• Secure parking that will include bike garages and electronic bike lockers.
• Replacement of 100 older bike lockers outside the Central Business District. Some of these replacements will test electronic lockers, which allow multiple riders to use them on any given day.

I-205 Multi-Use Path

During construction of the I-205 Light Rail Project–the future MAX Green Line–TriMet and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) made several improvements to the Multi-Use Path, including building an overpass over SE Woodstock and Foster to avoid biking through traffic, created easy bike access to all of the new MAX stations, and upgraded the path near Division, Powell and Holgate.

ODOT has committed $2.5 million in stimulus funds to provide lighting and improve the Multi-Use Path from Gladstone north. TriMet has committed that it will leverage ODOT funds and dedicate about $500,000 of the agency’s stimulus funds to provide lighting between Woodstock and Clackamas Town Center. The ODOT/TriMet effort will mean that the path will have continuous lighting adjacent to the entire Green Line and south to Gladstone.

More bike parking facilities

TriMet is also applying for $1.7 million in ODOT stimulus funds to build another five bike Park & Ride facilities, including an indoor facility at Tigard. The five facilities would provide a total of parking for 525 bicycles located at:

• Barbur Transit Center                                              
• Gateway/NE 99th Ave Transit Center
• Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave Transit Center
• Tigard Transit Center
• Orenco/NW 231st Avenue MAX Station

Other bike projects

• As part of the Portland Mall Light Rail /MAX Green Line project, TriMet contributed $50,000 toward Portland State University’s Bike Co-op, which will open this fall and provide parking for 28 bikes for use by the public.
• TriMet is looking to double the capacity for bike securement areas on each WES commuter train. The Federal Railroad Administration requires bikes to be secured while on the train.