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question about using the bike carriers on cta bus

  My daily commute for now includes using the CTA to carry my bike across the city. On the buses there ccan be one of two kinds of bike racks. One we will said is red and the other is yellow. The red ones are probably the intially used one before they start to use the better yellow ones. I have come across on a few occasion, where the red ones( the inner rack)  don't hold the bike well, as the screws fell out or something like that, so you have to use the outer one, thus no more bikes can be loaded till I get off.  I don't think the cta mechanics make it a habit of spot checking  them for problems. My question is, is there a way we can report to the CTA that a certain number bus has a broken bike rack? so I guess the bus number and route used is needed, and they should be able to track down the bus garage  location. thanks in advance.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on June 6, 2014 at 8:38pm

http://www.transitchicago.com/contact/default.aspx

"Contact Us" page from the CTA website.  Fill-out-a-form, or see the email list, and all the phone numbers.

 

Yes, if you have this experience on any CTA bus you should report it.  It something that probably isn't checked regularly and you're helping everybody by reporting this.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 8, 2014 at 3:03am

I cam across a Western bus this morning (number 8256-- bus tracking is good for something) that had two of the red wheel clip style retainers, and both with zip-tied in place.  I ended up riding all the way to U of C which I didn't want to due to being sick...

To answer your initial question, the first few prototypes we had installed on Chicago buses were the cane style:

And then the whole system was outfitted with the red clip style:

And then as they started to wear out (CTA garage personnel reportedly staunchly refused to make maintenance and repair of any moving bike rack parts part of their responsibility) a decision was made to switch the whole system over to the Yellow retainer style:

My best guess for the initial install would be 2003, and for switching to the yellow ones 2012....

Permalink Reply by Jerry Lee on June 9, 2014 at 3:52am

Bob Kastigar;

  Thanks for the info, I looked at the web site, and it looks like the customer service email is the way to go.

H'1.0;

     thanks for the info on the various kinds of racks used. I prefer the cane type or the yellow type, there is nothing wrong with the red ones, as long as they are not broken or the screws fell out. I also use Pace, and they are either cane type or the yellow ones.

Next time I encounter a bad rack, I will get the bus number and the  route it was on. thanks for helping out.    Jerry

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 9, 2014 at 9:09am

The yellow ones hold more securely. I definitely recommend reporting defective racks to CTA customer service via email, referencing route #, run # (it's in lower left corner of windshield as you look at front of bus - 1413 in photo above), direction of travel, and time of day.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 9, 2014 at 12:10pm

I would say the bus number (visible behind the bike's rear wheel in the last image) is the most important, and possibly only info needed for this particular type of problem besides the route number.

Permalink Reply by Matt on June 10, 2014 at 8:18am

I often find myself on a bus as part of my commute, particularly in the cooler months (like June?).  Last year, I had zero problems all year.  This year, one of my first trips the yellow arm was pretty loose, but I really didn't think too much of it.  Well, a minute into my commute I heard someone yell, "bike fell!"  Luckily the driver stopped and didn't run it over.  I had to get off and put it on the front spot.  I told the driver the inner one was broken, and she gave me some snide comment about it.  So I used the "contact us" link to report the broken rack.

I've since encountered a couple more busted ones, I think one more yellow one and one red one (though, there's actually a third type similar to the yellow one, but with a black hook at the end).  I make sure that if I ever encounter them, I try to notify the driver and also use the online form to hopefully get them fixed.  Definitely make sure you reference the bus number like everyone else has so far.

I can't say if it worked or not, but I'd have to imagine if they start getting bombarded with emails about them, they might actually do something about it.

Permalink Reply by Waymond Smith on June 10, 2014 at 12:27pm

Be very careful about using the racks on the CTA buses; my bike fell off on Lake Shore Dr. and was dragged for 4 blocks until we got off. I had to go beneath the bus in order to retrieve my bike! Luckily only the front wheel split, the rest of my bike was OK except for my shifters which were ground down enough to show the interior. Of course the CTA denied any responsibility for the damage.

I've had to yell at the bus driver on the J14 to slow down as it seemed that they were attempting to 'shake' my bike off the carrier.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 10, 2014 at 1:31pm

I'm definitely not in agreement with the comment above about reliability.  The yellow retainer racks have been failing pretty much since they were installed.  You have to try each one before using to make sure the spring still has some pull.
 
gopack13 said:

I often find myself on a bus as part of my commute, particularly in the cooler months (like June?).  Last year, I had zero problems all year.  This year, one of my first trips the yellow arm was pretty loose, but I really didn't think too much of it.  Well, a minute into my commute I heard someone yell, "bike fell!"  Luckily the driver stopped and didn't run it over.  I had to get off and put it on the front spot.  I told the driver the inner one was broken, and she gave me some snide comment about it.  So I used the "contact us" link to report the broken rack.

I've since encountered a couple more busted ones, I think one more yellow one and one red one (though, there's actually a third type similar to the yellow one, but with a black hook at the end).  I make sure that if I ever encounter them, I try to notify the driver and also use the online form to hopefully get them fixed.  Definitely make sure you reference the bus number like everyone else has so far.

I can't say if it worked or not, but I'd have to imagine if they start getting bombarded with emails about them, they might actually do something about it.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 10, 2014 at 1:34pm

There was a story in The Reader about a bike falling off on LSD maybe 5 years ago.  The owner reportedly noticed at some point that the bike wasn't there, asked the driver about it, and the driver reportedly sort of mumbled something about it having fallen off somewhere back.

IMO this is more likely to happen with lightweight/high end bikes, as the weight of the bike is what holds the rear wheel down. I would not take any bike on an LSD bus without bungeeing the rear wheel to the rack (which is expressly not allowed, but worth a try.)

As to drivers intentionally trying to shake a bike off... it's not the norm, but I've seen it, as well as drivers who try to get passengers to take a tumble.
 
Waymond Smith said:

Be very careful about using the racks on the CTA buses; my bike fell off on Lake Shore Dr. and was dragged for 4 blocks until we got off. I had to go beneath the bus in order to retrieve my bike! Luckily only the front wheel split, the rest of my bike was OK except for my shifters which were ground down enough to show the interior. Of course the CTA denied any responsibility for the damage.

I've had to yell at the bus driver on the J14 to slow down as it seemed that they were attempting to 'shake' my bike off the carrier.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 10, 2014 at 3:02pm

I've rarely had trouble with the springs being stiff enough on the yellow racks. The problem I've encountered most often (and not on that many occasions) has been that the squeeze-latch to lower the rack to horizontal position to be able to load bikes was broken, so that the rack could not be put into loading position.  I've never had a bike come loose or fall off.

h' 1.0 said:

I'm definitely not in agreement with the comment above about reliability.  The yellow retainer racks have been failing pretty much since they were installed.  You have to try each one before using to make sure the spring still has some pull.

Permalink Reply by Andrew on June 10, 2014 at 3:34pm

I only do it a handful of times annually, but I've had no problem getting my Surly Pacer w/ standard SKS fenders securely onto CTA bus racks.  No issues whatsoever other than the occasional annoyed driver.

Permalink Reply by Matt on June 10, 2014 at 3:35pm

My bike has full fenders, and it works fine.  I had a driver "yell" at me once for not putting the yellow arm in the right position, but I explained it's as far as I could put it due to the fenders.  They shrugged it off and let me on.  If there's enough tension in the spring, it will hold the bike just fine.  If there's not enough tension, it won't hold the bike securely regardless.  Fenders don't interfere with the red ones.


Jeff Schneider said:

I've never tried to take a bike on a CTA bus.  From the photos of the racks, it looks like a bike with fenders would be hard or impossible to secure.  True?

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