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Common sense suggests that bus and train services should be easily accessible to people on foot; every bus trip and most train and light rail trips start with someone walking to the bus stop or station. However, there are plenty of examples where common sense falls down:
• there may be no crosswalk to enable peope to access bus stops on each side of a busy road
• bus stops may be located where there are no sidewalks
• bus stops may have no shelter, transit information or seating
• train stations may be fenced in except for one vehicular access route
Bicyclists are a great potential market for transit services.
People will generally bicycle three to four times as far as they will
walk, and this could extend the catchment area of a train station from
a half mile to two miles. Once again however, there are often problems
in accessing transit by bicycle:
• there may be no place to safely park a bicycle
• the parking may be in a poor location (no cover, out of sight of station
personel)
• the user may need a bicycle at the end of their trip
• the roads leading to the station may have no bike lanes or other bike facility
Successful integration of bicycling, walking and transit cannot be taken for granted: it requires careful planning, good design and a commitment to making the combination work.
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