While South Shore Line ridership is slow to recover from the pandemic, the railroad is carrying a record number of bicycles.
Overall, 2022 ridership is down 58 percent from 2019 numbers. But the Bikes on Trains program is on track to have its best year ever, since it launched in 2016. More than 2,200 riders brought their bikes onboard between April and August.
Kelly Wenger with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District discussed the program during Monday's NICTD board meeting. "I can't explain it, but it's phenomenal. We'll take it," she said.
That's in spite of the fact that the South Shore Line's Double Track project has cut bike access to much of the system. Bikes are not allowed on the buses that have replaced rail service through the construction zones. Currently, bikes are only allowed from East Chicago west.
"If you've not been to that station, we put in that new tunnel. There is a little bike wheel track going up that tunnel, so you can even push your bike up it," Wenger added.
The Bikes on Trains program ends for the year on October 31.
