ACTION ALERT - Cyclists and transit riders in the Baltimore area need your help

[Senator Gladden's response: <a href="http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20071121162452981">http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20071121162452981</a>;]
From One Less Car's newsletter:
If you live in or around Baltimore City you have probably noticed something missing from the MTA buses. No bike racks! The Maryland Transit Administration is one of the very few remaining major transit systems in the U.S. that does not equip its bus fleet with bicycle racks. In Philadelphia and Washington DC bike racks are on the front of every transit bus.

Its not that bike racks cost all that much. The estimated price tag for outfitting the entire MTA bus fleet with racks is under $1 million dollars. It's a small price to pay to make the area's transit network far more accessible.

If you use the MTA system or live in an area serviced by MTA and would use the system if it were more bike accessible, please contact Governor Martin O'Malley via email by accessing his constituent feedback webpage - <a href="http://www.gov.state.md.us/mail/">www.gov.state.md.us/mail/</a>; Under &quot;email topic&quot; select &quot;transportation issues&quot;. Tell the governor that the Baltimore metro area deserves a first class bus system and that having bike racks on buses is a key to making that happen. You can also call his office at 410-974-3591.

by B' Spokes

Like most people I live a hectic life and who has the time for much exercise? Thanks to xtracycle now I do. By using my bike for daily activities I can get things done and get an hour plus work out in 15 minutes extra of my time, not a bad deal and beats taking the extra time going to the gym. In case you are still having trouble being motivated; the National Center of Disease Control says that inactivity is the #2 killer in the United States just behind smoking. ( http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_nutrition/ ) Get out there and start living life! I can carry home a full shopping cart of groceries, car pool two kids or just get lost in the great outdoors camping for a week. Well I got go, another outing this weekend.
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  • ACTION ALERT - Cyclists and transit riders in the Baltimore area need your help
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Just to note that MTA has agreed to equip all new buses with bike racks and at that rate it will take 7 years to fully outfit the fleet. I will also note that of the original 180 bike racks on buses most if not all have been destroyed because of the drivers not being used to having a bike rack on the front of the bus. So it does seem appropriate that some
Apocryphal accounts speak of buses equipped with bicycle racks driving right past waiting riders with bikes, and only stopping for passengers on foot. If you attribute malice to those stories, is it such a leap to imagine bus drivers accidentally bumping into things to make the racks unusable? Just paranoid ramblings....
I have almost given up on MTA. Baltimore has all the components for a great public transport system, but just cant execute. They have the Metro, the light rail, the Marc and the buses, but nothing interconnects. They should allow transfers between the systems and change the buses to a hub and spoke model so the buses are the connectors between the metro, light rail and marc. Look at how DC has done it for a good example. The DC system works. Just ask your self would it be possible to get a bus to Camdem Yards from where you live?