Using the Bus for Bike Trips

I decided to take my bike on a Valley Transportation Authority bus today, the first time I have taken advantage of this transit option. I was surprised at how simple it was to use the bike rack. As a member of the VTA board, I thought I’d see how the bike racks work.

I can see the advantage of knowing how to use the VTA bike racks, especially when planning longer bike trips. VTA buses and light rail trains run throughout Santa Clara County, with numerous connections to other transit systems, such as Caltrain, SamTrans, and Santa Cruz Metro.

I had always thought that using the rack on the front of the bus would take a long time, irritating my fellow passengers. But I was able to get my bicycle on and off the rack in a matter of seconds.

An important thing to remember when using the bike rack is to make eye contact with the driver so he or she knows that you will be loading your bicycle. This way the driver is not surprised to find you in front of the bus if he or she is distracted with other passengers boarding.

The bike is held on the rack with a spring-loaded hook, which pins the front tire down. This keeps the bike perfectly steady during the ride.

Make sure to get off the bus using the front entrance, rather than the rear exit. My bus driver appreciated that I let him know that I would be retrieving my bike at the next stop so he didn’t pull away too early.

The rack has two slots for passengers’ bikes. If the rack is full, up to two bicyclists may bring their bikes on board if there is space.

VTA’s light rail trains also have bike racks to make commuting easier. These racks are inside the passenger cars, and a bicyclist lifts the bike into a vertical position to hang it from a hook.

A Healthy Lifestyle for Years to Come

As I biked home yesterday, I stopped at a traffic light next to a fellow bicyclist, who lives in west San Jose and works downtown. We chatted for a few minutes, and he told me how he bikes to work every morning.

At 60 years young, he said he was in the best shape of his life, which made me want to pedal my bike even faster so I could say the same when I am older.

Even though people’s schedules seem to be more packed than ever, finding the time to exercise is important. One important aspect of Bike to Work Day is to encourage people who don’t normally use their bicycles to make a simple lifestyle adjustment and transform the commute to work into a healthy workout.

Even if biking isn’t a favorite activity, there are other ways to exercise. One county employee said she walks to work one day every week. Her schedule makes it difficult for her to walk every day, but she finds one day every week that is flexible to allow exercise.

Many companies provide showers and lockers for their employees to encourage healthy lifestyles. I have used the shower at the County Government Center more times than I can count after going for jogs. When I biked to the Valley Transportation Authority’s headquarters, I was happy to find that they offer lockers and showers. These types of amenities make exercising during the workday a lot easier.

Connecting to Meetings via Local Trails

Even though today began with gloomy weather, it cleared up just in time for me to take a 10-mile roundtrip bike ride to the Valley Transportation Authority’s headquarters for a lunch briefing on tomorrow’s Caltrain Joint Powers Board meeting.



Biking to VTA’s headquarters in north San Jose from the County Government Center near downtown was a pleasant ride. Rather than riding through traffic, I followed the Guadalupe River Trail part of the way. The trail gave me a quieter, more relaxing ride, as well as beautiful scenery and puffy white and gray clouds to enjoy along the way.

I then took Airport Parkway to Brokaw and headed up First Street to VTA’s headquarters.

I arrived early enough to meet with Scott Haywood, VTA’s policy manager. In addition to being on Caltrain’s board, I am also a member of VTA’s governing board, and my meeting with Scott gave me a chance to chat about the latest bus and light rail fee reduction proposals.

At the lunch briefing, we discussed Caltrain’s $3.7 million deficit. The good news is that this estimate is lower than the original $5.6 million shortfall projected in February. We heard data and recommendations from Caltrain staff today, and tomorrow we hope to work together to begin brainstorming ways to reduce the deficit.

While on the San Jose City Council, I was the city’s representative on the Caltrain board. Now my appointment is because I serve on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and it is my seventh year on the board.

Even though I logged a lot of miles in the bike lanes and on the trails today, I haven’t had my fill of bicycling. Tomorrow I plan to take my bike on the train to the Caltrain board meeting in San Carlos.