LIB is seeking volunteers to help count bikes parked at suburban Metra stations. This project continues the once-every-five-year data collection effort to track the growth in the number of people using bikes as part of their Metra commute–from roughly 1,000 people in 1998 up to 2,000 people in 2003 and up to 3,000 people in 2008. It is the only bike count in most of these towns; and, has other advocacy uses, such as identifying bike network and parking needs.

Are you willing to adopt a Metra line, or section of a line, to do bike parking counts on Tuesday, Sept. 10? Wednesday, Sept. 11 is our back up day. The counts will need to be completed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The list of different Metra lines are below, followed by possible ways to divide them up, if needed. Our preference is for people to take an entire line; but, do not hesitate to indicate whatever you can do. Further instructions will be emailed to those who indicate they can volunteer.

Please email LIB program manager Gin Kilgore your availability, including the Metra lines that you could do.

Thanks for your consideration and ongoing support of cycling in Illinois!

Union Pacific North (UP-N)

• Clybourn-Ravinia
• Highland Park-Kenosha (If needed, we can explore getting a volunteer to just do the Kenosha and maybe also Zion stations.)

Milwaukee District North (MD-N)

• Western-Deerfield
• Lake Forest-Fox Lake

North Central Service (NCS)

• Western-Wheeling
• Buffalo Grove-Antioch

Union Pacific Northwest (UP-NW)

• Clybourn-Palatine
• Barrington-Harvard, including spur to McHenry (If needed, we can explore getting a volunteer to do the Harvard and/or McHenry stations.)

Milwaukee District West (MD-W)

• Western-Mannheim
• Bensenville-Big Timber

Heritage Corridor (HC)

• Summit-Joliet (This one is tricky because there is no reverse commute, and only three morning and evening runs.)

Rock Island District (RI)

• 35th-Blue Island (If needed, we can explore getting a volunteer to just do the 35th Street station.)
• Robbins-Joliet

Metra Electric District (ME)

• Van Buren-93rd (South Chicago section)
• 75th/Grand Crossing-Blue Island (western spur)
• Riverdale-University Park

LIB staff has taken the below, but we welcome backups.
Ed Barsotti: BNSF Railway (BNSF)
Gina Kenny: SouthWest Service (SWS)
Gin Kilgore: Union Pacific West (UP-W)

Update September 11, 2013:

The counts need to be done sometime between 9am and 3pm. Due to uncertainty about the weather this week, we are accepting counts taken on Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday. However, we do not want to use counts from a rainy day. It should take about five minutes per station, maybe ten at the larger stations.  We also welcome any photos, especially with the station name in them. They might be of use for preparing the report.

The instructions are available in a PDF format.

Please contact me with any questions and let me know as soon as possible if you are unable to do the counts you signed up for via email and 773.332.6117. We very much appreciate your support.

For each station, note:

• Station name
• Date
• Time of day
• The number of bikes parked at/near the station (on racks, fences, etc.), using discretion to determine whether outlying bikes are parked there for a Metra trip.
• How many bikes have obviously been abandoned (rusty chain or flat tires, missing parts, etc.).
• Whether existing bike racks (or other bike parking facilities) seem adequate to meet the demand.  If racks are getting full, say, roughly over 75%, then additional capacity may be needed.