MTA planning and operation chiefs Delana Glenn with Malloy and Redeker at the announcement.
One of the new on-board bike racks.
The state’s transportation department has a double suggestion for how to avoid driving to work: ride your bike to the train, then bring your wheels on board.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and transportation chief James Redeker offered that suggestion at a press conference Thursday at Union Station.
They announced that the state has installed 190 new bike racks on Metro-North trains.
“Every train will have a bike rack” now, the governor said.
He recommended not bringing your bike to busy platforms and onto crowded trains during rush hour. Otherwise, he noted, “much of the day and evening is not during that [peak] time,” so he welcomed the dual-mode commuting.
“We are listening to our customers” who asked for more racks, he said.
Glenn demosntrates the new app.
Officials also unveiled at the press conference a new smartphone app called MTA eTix through which riders can purchase tickets, present them to conductors, and gain real-time information about trains.
Malloy offered a third good-news announcement as well: The New Haven line saw a record 40.3 million passenger trips in 2015, even though gas prices had dropped in that time. People, it seems, want to ride to work if they can.
DOT Commissioner Redeker pulls his Odyssey into the existing Union Station garage Thursday.