{"id":206710214,"date":"2011-07-21T11:30:14","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T11:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=206710214"},"modified":"2011-07-21T11:30:14","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T11:30:14","slug":"bikes-on-amtrak-why-such-an-ordeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=206710214","title":{"rendered":"Bikes on Amtrak \u2014 Why Such an Ordeal?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>[B&#8217; Spokes: Just to note NJ Transit lets bikes on their trains off-peek hours. Basically if the car can handle handicap it can hand a bike. Some photos after the fold.]<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>By Virginia Bicycling Federation<\/p>\n<p>For several years, the Virginia Bicycling Federation been asking Amtrak to make it easier to take our bikes on their trains.&nbsp; We think its a win for Amtrak by increasing ridership and a win for cyclists who would like to carry their bikes to destinations&nbsp;for touring, recreation, or making the final connection on their&nbsp;trips, excursions&nbsp;and&nbsp;vacations.<\/p>\n<p>As things stand now, if a person wants to carry their bike on a train in Virginia, they must disassemble the bike and box it \u2014 a hassle at best, but a deal breaker for someone who isn\u2019t handy with a wrench.&nbsp;&nbsp; For someone not mechanically inclined,&nbsp;they would need to take a trip to a bike shop&nbsp;to break their bike down and box it \u2013&nbsp;&nbsp;which, of course, precludes riding your bike to the train station \u2014 and do the same at their destination.&nbsp; A deal breaker for all but the most dedicated.<\/p>\n<p>You then must pay a special handling fee to Amtrak to transport the bike.<\/p>\n<p>Multiply all this by two for the return trip home.<\/p>\n<p>I think most would agree this is a hassle.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve asked Amtrak to reconsider their policy and carry unboxed bikes \u2013&nbsp;heaven forbid \u2013&nbsp;but have been told &nbsp;they would need need new, high-tech baggage cars make this difficult situation work.<\/p>\n<p>According to Jay McArthur,&nbsp; Amtrak\u2019s Principal Officer for Policy and Development:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Roll-on\/roll-off bicycle carriage is not possible at this time on our Crescent and Silver Service routes which run through Virginia to and from New Orleans and Florida.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/streetsblog.net\/2011\/07\/21\/bikes-on-amtrak-%E2%80%94-why-such-an-ordeal\/\">https:\/\/streetsblog.net\/2011\/07\/21\/bikes-on-amtrak-%E2%80%94-why-such-an-ordeal\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-snc6\/267614_10150243866568076_513493075_7325710_1000114_n.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-snc6\/264274_10150243878668076_513493075_7325908_6019580_n.jpg\" alt=\"image\" \/>oldId.20110721113014756<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[B&#8217; Spokes: Just to note NJ Transit lets bikes on their trains off-peek hours. Basically if the car can handle handicap it can hand a bike. Some photos after the fold.] By Virginia Bicycling Federation For several years, the Virginia Bicycling Federation been asking Amtrak to make it easier to take our bikes on their &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=206710214\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Bikes on Amtrak \u2014 Why Such an Ordeal?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206710214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biking-in-maryland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206710214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=206710214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206710214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=206710214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=206710214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=206710214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}