My Ebike questioned by Transit authority Sprinter San diego

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deardancer3

10 kW
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
959
Location
San Diego
Today on the San diego sprinter light rail, I noticed security eyeing my ebike, and talking to anther security guard about ebikes. Uh oh.

a long ride to the station where I was getting off.

My ebike is a feet far forward Raleigh Gruv with a cyclone chain drive and a 20ah 24v Headway pack wrapped in foam and encased in a huge folding plastic case. Lots of wires and taking up some xtra space due to the huge battery pack off the chain side basket. uh oh.

when it came time to get off, the security guard approaches me. uh oh. "Is that an ebike?" he asks. me--"Yes, but its not turned on " "Is it yours " he asks. gulp "yes"

the rest of the story a little later



d
 
Oh i'll tell you now, " I have one too and need some one to help me work on a couple of problems, do you know anyone?" he asks.

"Sure" I said, Guard--"lets swap phone numbers" Me -- "sure"

Guard holds train while we swap numbers, and helps me get bike off . "Have a good ride" hes says.

I guess ebikes are ok on the Sprinter.

d
 
8) This is exactly how this story should end. Sitting in the coffee shop this evening I noticed a cop car put it's lights on and slowly drive up the street, eye our bicycles (while stopping traffic) and then after a few seconds continue on. Then I noticed the bike rack on the back... :mrgreen:
 
lol.. nice.

I was checking out the city bus front racks lasts summer, had about a 5 minute wait time before sceduled departure so i took advantave of it to inspect the sturdiness of the racks.. pulled it down.. stepped on it bounced a bit... seems fairly strong to me.. put it back up and walked in the bus.

Drive asks why the inspection ? I reply because my bicycle is fairly heavy and i'm afraid the rack could snap.. but after checking it out it should be just fine.

Bus driver " your bike is THAT heavy ? "

Me " Yep. "

lol.. little does he know. yet.
 
MikeFairbanks said:
The Sprinter? I thought the trains were called The Coaster.
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Coaster = full size commuter train running the pacific coast from San Diego Train center to Oceanside.

Sprinter = Light rail train powered by ultra clean diesel, from Oceanside on the Pacific ocean inland to Escondido.
 
Update:

after riding San diego transit with ebikes off and on for years,

today a bus driver gave me the third degree for putting a Trek with a Bionx on the bike rack, MTS bus, route 44 from ranch 99 to Old town.

checked the rules and laws and looks like things might have changed in the last year. NCTD (Sandiego north county) specifically says no ebikes
http://www.gonctd.com/bike_ride
after the Fall 2012 rules update , and MTS (san dicgo city and south county )has some decals saying no motorized bikes, which by new California law includes legal low powered under 1hp pedal powered 20mph maximum two wheeled bikes.

Seems like most bus operators dont care, and the trolley and trains operatolrs never see the ebike.

any comments or additional info?


d
 
Nice to hear most of these stories end on a positive note!
Since most of you have ridden busses with your bikes I was wondering if 2.5 tires fitting racks, and also how much your bikes weigh?
 
When it comes to mixed mode commuting on buses, trains, ferries, etc. The best technique is stealth. A stealth folder is even better. It's only gonna get worse as politicians screw up this up! Guaranteed....
 
Great points:
The fingers said:
Barely fits but that keeps it snug. Hard to lift out though. :x
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I want my next bike to fit these racks no problem. But I want big, beefy tires. I hope 2.25" is a compromise that meets both criteria (I'd like to run 16 x 2.25" scooter tires on 406mm/20" BMX rims)

Ykick said:
When it comes to mixed mode commuting on buses, trains, ferries, etc. The best technique is stealth. A stealth folder is even better. It's only gonna get worse as politicians screw up this up! Guaranteed....
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My thinking exactly. I think we'll all need to get more stealthy in our designs as e-bikes become more popular. Once they break through the social consciousness, it will bring out the fear in the simple folk, and oppressive laws will soon follow...
 
Screw the bus then, the city/county can continue to lose money on their bus programs then by losing your business. You live in a place with some of the best weather in the United States. Why not put together a good sized battery and just ride to work?
 
neptronix said:
Screw the bus then, the city/county can continue to lose money on their bus programs then by losing your business. You live in a place with some of the best weather in the United States. Why not put together a good sized battery and just ride to work?
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Not much experience with SoCal drivers and roadways, eh?
 
Do they not have bike paths anywhere out that way, or bike lanes?
I'll admit, my experience with Southern California is limited ends east of West Covina and south of Irvine.

If you don't have any other way, then there are some fantastic small geared motors out there.... get a black bike.. carry the battery in your backpack ;)
 
A few dedicated bike paths are great if they go where you're going. However, some places like Coronado Island, prohibit eBikes on their paths and just as this issue will continue to evolve (meaning - more bans) with mass transit - writing on the wall will soon be the same. NO MOTORIZED BICYCLES
 
Ebikes shound not be allowed on buses or trains. The smoke from a battery fire would endanger the people on that bus. If the bike is stored on the rack outside i think that would be BEST. Granted your not charging on the bus, but the battery is likely to have been used recently, and could fail in other ways, eg low voltage condition. As ebikes become more common, expect this practice to end or change to outside storage.

How many people on this forum bring thier bike into a bus , or other area with many people in an enclosed space? I store mine in my apartment. but i am vigilant with my battery monitoring..
 
hydro-one said:
Ebikes shound not be allowed on buses or trains...

... I store mine in my apartment. but i am vigilant with my battery monitoring..
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Wait, what?
 
Maybe they should just ban ebikes from everywhere useful, just to make sure that nobody finds a use for them.
Because they are so much more dangerous than driving 3000lbs of steel at 65mph.
 
Lets just ban lithium batteries from airplanes first. Last I checked, it's not smrt to open the door on a plane at speed, even to toss out a flaming battery.

So, no cell phones or laptops people. And keep your shampoo under 3oz.
 
maybe we should ban dental floss as i could strangle you with it while riding my ebike?
 
its only fun until someone loses an eye, or gets killed. Seems boeing thought it was a big enough threat. I would tend to agree with them, after seeing and breathing it first-hand from a 600wh lipo. What that would do to thirty people in a (sealed) bus is probably kill at least the less strong. would you want a lawsuit on your hands? i wouldnt. thats why i am very careful now. and you should be to . yes were cowboys on one hand, and intellectuals with much responsability on the other.

that being said ive been extremely lucky with my batteries, only one major fire, inside my friends house, people and pets at risk http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46011&start=30
 
My local bus (Baltimore, MD) lost my fares the moment they stopped letting me bring my electric goped scooter aboard. I kinda stumbled onto this forum because of rules outlawing my transportation. If I have >15mile journeys in mind, I'm biking, rain, shine, freeze, and (hehe maybe) snow. Frack it, even snow (this weekend)! :mrgreen:
 
Yup me too, I hate riding the bus, half the time its empty, i feel like im really wasting resources......the rest of the time its packed, and then u have to walk. ebiking rules ps it is -25c here and over a foot of snow. with not much change in sight for the next month or so .

how about a condensor and filter built into the pack incase of thermal decomposition? so as to remove the smoke. still be plently hot but not killing smoke
 
I'm all for safety: regulating people's behavior with respect to dangerous activities is good policy.
I'm all for responsibility: tort law - lawsuits - are the means to hold people accountable for damage that is not defined by criminal statute.

I'm vehemently opposed to hypocrisy: Laws against bicycling, or new laws against e-biking, when the top killer of Americans under age 40 is the automobile. When the top source of death and injury among Americans of all ages is... <wait for it> the automobile. (Well, the motorist I should say)

Are automobiles and motorists regulated? Hells yeah. But given that this top-killer status has been so year over year since the 1940s, motorcars and motorists clearly are not being regulated enough (and/or with the right regulations).

As a society, we're a bunch of hypocrites when we nag motorcycle or bicycle riders to wear helmets, or pass other silly laws like that when the real source of injury and death on the roadway is the distracted/speeding/drunk/inattentive driver.
 
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