the dot connection in new mexico

The city of Albuquerque has a tough job when it comes to providing public transportation due to the low-density, sprawling suburban subdivision nature of most of its neighborhoods.

For this reason, Albuquerque's transit department mission statement encourages intermodal transportation as a way to increase use of public transportation and decrease single-occupancy-vehicle use. The Bike and Ride program offers bicycle racks on the front of all city buses to make it easier for transit users to ride their bikes to and from sometimes distant bus stops.

Though using such a system would be very helpful to me and theoretically facilitate my use of the bus system, I've yet to try it, for one simple reason. I don't have enough upper body strength to lift my bike up onto the rack, especially if I need to put it behind other bikes.

In talking to other women, I became aware that this isn't just my problem. One friend has used the system, and always needed other passenger's help to load her bike. Other women have said they wouldn't even try, because they wouldn't be able to do it on their own and would be concerned about other bus riders getting impatient.

In thinking about this, I realized that I have never seen another woman using transporting her bike on the bus. The bike riders I've seen have always been men. So it seems we have an access problem here, if Albuquerque's most effective intermodal transportation service is innaccessible to a large portion of the female population of the city.

My friend Kelli suggested that I call ABQ Ride and express the concern that is keeping me from using the Bike and Ride program, asking if I could expect help from the bus driver in the event that I couldn't load my bike on my own.

Great idea! So this morning I called ABQ Ride's customer service. The customer service rep I spoke to was quick with her answer: "No, because the bus drivers are required to not leave their seats while the bus is in operation." Well, that makes total sense from a safety perspective. I can't argue with that. But it still leaves me and a lot of women with this access issue.

I asked her who I could speak to about accessibility concerns. She said there was no one, that all she could do was take a complaint. I thanked her and said I'd find another way to address my concerns.

If bus drivers can't leave their seats, there's no easy solution here, and it seems it would be more effective to have have some potential solutions than to merely complain about the problem. I don't know what they would be. As an individual solution, I could look at getting a lighter bike, but I wonder if there would be a way to make bike racks on buses more accessible?

Fow now, I've e-mailed Julie, the president of Bike ABQ, to see if she's aware of anyone looking at this as a concern. She's been a very helpful resource and I look forward to hearing what she might know or suggest.