I'm a young girl traveling to and from school on the Austin cap metro. I've always been uncomfortable as there are lots of "out of it" people. Today felt like my last straw though when a guy came on the bus with a crowbar. Just out of curiosity, do bus drivers usually refuse people with those sorts of weapons? What safety precautions are there in case of an emergency?

Hey there!

Yesterday I rode the train with my bike for the first time. After getting into a horrible car accident I have a lot of driving anxiety so I figured I’d try the train + my ebike. My ebike is a standard 26” bike with a basket on the back for my work stuff. I’m a bit on the short side and genuinely can’t lift my bike onto the hooks without probably hurting myself or other passengers in the process.

For the morning commute I tucked myself out of the way moved and adjusted for other riders while standing with my bike from lakeline station - no issues.

Then I got on the 5:08 train from downtown to Leander yesterday. I was one of the first people on the train, no other bikes, train pretty empty at that point. I tucked myself as far against the wall as I could with my bike smushed against me to take up as little room as physically possible. The conductor lady told me I had to put my bike up on the hooks - and I told her I was sorry I couldn’t lift it but happy to stand and hold it. She then told me that “to cut down on e-bikes CapMetro policy states bikes must be hung on the hooks during peak hours” and that the policy was posted online. If I couldn’t hang my bike then I needed to get off the train if it got busy and catch an emptier train, I can’t for the life of me find said policy anywhere, the overhead announcement even states you can stand with your bike.

All I’ve seen is a limit of 4 bikes per car - 8 per train. There are only 2 hooks for bikes in each train car anyway? I was the only bike the whole trip and people had plenty of room. I guess I’m just looking for any links to where it may state this? I’m trying to be a good/respectful commuter to others and get to work. 😔😔