Alert - Bicycle Racks on MTA Buses

From John Porcari Secretary of Transportation: Thank you for noting the lack of bike racks on our MTA buses-- and your strong support of bicycling. While we have made real strides in bike accessibility for other parts of our transit system such as MARC commuter rail and light rail, there is more work to be done. By copy of this e-mail, I am asking MTA Administrator Paul Wiedefeld to directly address your question. Again, thanks for your interest. Sincerely, John Porcari

From Paul Widefeld Thank you for your note regarding the need for bicycle racks on MTA buses, and I agree they would be a tremendous benefit to our customers and the potential utilization of our transit system. We are moving on a number of fronts to make this a reality. In the very near future, we will be putting out a bid for our annual bus buy of 65 buses, and the specifications fir the buses call for them to be equipped with bike racks. We are also picking up an option on a number of articulated buses being built for another transit property to replace our aging fleet of 30 articulated buses. These new buses will also have bike racks installed on them. Both of these actions are underway within existing capital budgets. As for retrofitting our existing buses, this is also something the MTA would like to pursue, but unfortunately we do not currently have the funding in our capital budget. As I am sure you are following, the Special Session called by the Governor is looking to address funding for needed transportation improvements. If additional funds were to be made available, the retrofitting of the remaining fleet would be a candidate for funding. Thank you again for your note, and for using the MTA's services, Sincerely, Paul Widefeld