Strangely enough, research shows that, “What to do with the extra bikes that people leave behind”, is the worst problem that transit agencies have with bikes on buses (BOB).  I do believe that our local organization called, Workshop Houston, can take these off your hands. The Bike Shop component of Workshop Houston runs innovative youth programs and promotes recycled bicycles as an affordable means of transportation in the Third Ward by offering below-cost bike repair facilities, after school and summer activities for kids, and bike related events.  Here’s their website.

http://www.workshophouston.org/programs/bike_shop.php

Ummm---problem here.  Why would someone leave their bike anyways?  Perhaps---they had to make a fast getaway or something?  Maybe they didn't want that bike anymore and figure, "It's METRO's problem now with what they do with it?

I dunno. It's not all that strange...

It's what I call the "Set it and forget it" mentality. You put something down somewhere and completely forget about it. I've lost purses, wallets, keys, and things I've bought at the store that way. And the next thing you know, you're off the bus saying, "Now, where's my...oh, crap, it's on the bus!"

maybe the bikes are stolen?

I can completely understand how a few people might forget their bikes; out of sight, out of mind, after all. Also, once you step off the bus, you have only a few seconds to realize your mistake and yell "STOP!" before the bus drives away.

Ms. Sit,

A suggestion, similar to the OSHA required "Lock-Out" system for power boxes, could the transit agency consider some inexpensive dual tag system whereby when a bike rider stows a bike on the front rack, they pull a pair of tags from the fastener.  They board the vehicle, and place one tag on a board by the driver, and hold the second tag during the ride.

At the point of disembarcation, the rider returns to the front, shows the tag to the operator, the operator gives the second tag to the rider.  The rider removes the bike from the rack, placing the two tags back on that space in the bike rack.

Simple, secure, and reasonably inexpensive, which should reduce the number of forgotten bikes before the operator drives off.

At least nobody has left their brains on a bus or train!

Been a bunch of dignity left om them tho...

wi11e

"At least nobody has left their brains on a bus or train!"

HA!  True BUT it seems that people like to leave their brains at home BEFORE they get on the bus (or train).

So, uh, yeah....losing stuff? I, in my infinite brilliance, lost my digital camera yesterday on the bus. I did the smart thing and waited until it turned around and came back to see if it was still on it. Naturally, it wasn't.

I got lucky with my wallet a couple of months ago, and it came back to me a week later...well, the stuff IN the wallet, minus the cash, of course. The strange thing is that I didn't get it back through Lost and Found. Some semi-honest person found it, took everything out of it, and mailed it to me.

I doubt this will happen with my camera, though.

I've made a few umbrella donations to METRO's lost and found over the years.  Never was worth the hassle to retrieve them.  A few years ago, I walked up to a bus stop and there was a women's purse on the bench.  I thought it was some kind of sting operation and was hesitant to touch it at first.  When the bus pulled up, I took it with me and was able to find a phone number and return the purse to the owner who was thrilled to get her purse back.  "It happens."

I wonder if the bikes in question were left in the Park and Ride bus compartments?   I can see that happening quite easily.  On the inner-city buses with front load racks, the bike on the rack is so obvious.  Hard to imagine anyone leaving their bike behind unless they inadvertently exit out the rear of the bus.  

"I, in my infinite brilliance, lost my digital camera yesterday on the bus. I did the smart thing and waited until it turned around and came back to see if it was still on it. Naturally, it wasn't."

What a surprise...  That's what happened to me one time when I lost my cell phone (I'll await the bashing laterz) on the bus and luckily, the bus came around and---no dice.  The driver was even nice enough to let me go on there and look for it.  I say that because normally, that wouldn't happen.

My advice to you all is---DON'T rush when you get off the bus/train.  Make sure you GRAB everything before you head for the door.  You'll regret it if you leave something valuable.  I sure as heck did.

Lesson learned.  It'll be better to forget something you really need (you later figure out that it's still at your residence) than somewhere else.