Integrating Bicycling and Public Transport in North America

This article describes the present approaches to integrating bicycling and public transit in large American and Canadian cities. The authors first analyze national trends in bike-and-ride programs, including the provision of bike racks on buses, accommodation of bikes on rail vehicles, and bike parking at rail stations and bus stops. The remainder of the article presents case studies of bike-transit integration in six large American cities: San Francisco (California), Portland (Oregon), Minneapolis (Minnesota), Chicago (Illinois), Washington (District of Columbia), and New York (New York); and two Canadian cities: Vancouver and Toronto. These case studies show an improvement in the coordination of bicycling and public transit in recent years, notably in increased bike parking at transit stops and better accommodations for passengers wanting to take their bikes with them on buses and rail vehicles. The authors conclude that although much progress has been made over the past decade in coordinating cycling with public transport, the demand for bike-and-ride far exceeds the supply of facilities in some cities. Additional funding is needed to provide more secure, sheltered bike parking at rail stations and to increase bike-carrying capacity on rail vehicles. A focus on bike-and-ride options is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than additional park-and-ride facilities for cars.