My wife works in Beaverton, she normally uses a two bike system so she doesn’t have to hassle with bringing a bike on the Max. But unfortunately yesterday this wasn’t the case.

Blue line 185th Stop:
She was about to board, when she saw that Trimet ticket checkers were not letting cyclists board unless there was an empty hanger for their bike. Train after train they were kicking people off from previous stops, a group of 20-30 cyclists standing confused gathered. One was quoted “I guess I will ride to Portland…” My wife said one cyclist challenged them verbally and was given another ticket. His defense was that he was not blocking any one from moving in the cabin, and as he (and I) understood Trimet’s rules, this was allowed. No tolerance, bike on hanger or bike off train.

Here is my wife’s comment about the situation, taken from BikePortland comments:

Great work Trimet. You have ignored bike capacity issues, and now you are trying to force them off the train. Bravo.

*Update - Jonathan Maus from BikePortland.org pointed out that this is not a new issue:

http://bikeportland.org/2007/04/20/trimets-bike-policy-differs-from-actual-enforcement/

What makes me even more upset, is this line:

“we have clarified this point with our inspectors and expect no further issues in this regard.”

Here we are a little over a year later, same issue my friend.

**UPDATE2 -

BikePortland has contacted TriMet and has received a response, read here:
http://bikeportland.org/2008/06/27/trimet-security-still-saying-no-hook-no-ride/

 ***Update 3 -

BikePortland has another follow up based on another response from TriMet.

-Brewcaster

I am all for keeping my body as clean as possible. Some may say I have a little OCD. But, some of the ways we clean ourselves should be kept in the home, behind closed doors.

I am talking to you Mr. “Rides line 8 every morning and Q-Tips his ears on the bus”. I am almost to the point of vomiting when I see that you are going to be on the bus with me. Without fail, you sit down in the priority seating area and begin to go to down on your ears with the Q-Tips. You only pause to inspect your findings left on the Q-Tip. Really man, I love that you are keeping your ear canals clean, I do too. But I would beg of you to do that before you leave the house. I can’t keep from looking, its like a train wreck. STOP!

-brewcaster

I understand the average rider’s worry that they may miss their stop. But I want to raise awareness and safety concerns about a certain practice I have been noticing/getting annoyed by. I am referring to the common activity of half the riders all jumping up, pushing and shoving their way closer to the exit, WAYYYY before the stop.

I have yet to EVER witness a rider not able to get off when they wanted to. The drivers watch to make sure that all riders attempting to exit are able to do so. It can be a little annoying and sometimes downright dangerous as people push and maneuver around each other as a bus/train is applying brakes. Half the time the person you are trying to get around may be getting off at the same stop!

So please, wait until the bus/train reaches its stop before running for the doors. I don’t mind if you want to stand up, but please don’t start crowding an already crowded aisle.

You will get off, I promise.

-brewcaster

This photo is an example of an area on the Max you are not supposed to stand. On the Max I believe this to be a pretty “light rule”. True, standing here may impede the ramp from extending, but I have yet to see that happen. When the train is full, sometimes you gotta stand here.

But MORE IMPORTANTLY, there is a similar area on the buses where you should not be standing unless the next stop is yours. I want to encourage riders to not stand in the little area where the back door is. It makes it very difficult for riders to exit around you in a space meant for a single person to walk through.

Don’t be that guy (or girl, but that seems to be rare)

-brewcaster