On weekdays between the hours of 7:05am and 8:50am, and again at 4:25pm and 6:45pm, nearly all bcyclists are prohibited from bringing their bikes on to BART. The penalty for violating this rule is a $250 ticket, but anyone who rides BART could be forgiven for not knowing any of this, as the Ex is reporting that BART only rarely enforces this law.
According to BART, during morning commute hours, bikes “are allowed in the Embarcadero Station only for trips to the East Bay. During evening commute hours, bicyclists traveling from the East Bay must exit at the Embarcadero Station.”
Folded bikes, they say, are allowed at any time, with the caveat that “during commute hours, folding bikes must be folded before entering the paid area at the Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, and Civic Center San Francisco Stations, and the 12th and 19th Street Oakland Stations. At all other stations, they may be folded on the platform, but must be folded before boarding a train.”
“Regardless of any other rule,” BART says “bikes are never allowed on crowded (trains).”
While complaints about folks not following those bylaws are on the rise, with 49 complaints registered last fiscal year and 64 this one, only 15 have been cited this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Two BART commute hour bike ban scofflaws the Ex’s Will Reisman caught confirmed that BART’s not doing much to back the ban, with one saying that he rides BART with his bike commute hours every weekday, but has “never been fined or anything.”
Another says she’d think more about following the rules “if I ever saw the rule being enforced.”
For their part, BART says they’re working to “come up with a plan to address the issue of unsanctioned bikes on trains.” Or maybe one of those new BART station stores can sell folding bikes. Problem: solved!
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