PSA: Do not ride a bike along the QLINE rail

The QLINE has been running for a couple months now, and those of us who live here are learning to adapt to it. Is it a little slower than we thought? Sure. But it’s still working out some of its issues.

The Free Press decided to send six of its reporters out to race from downtown to the DIA and back using six modes of transportation: walking, driving, uber, the bus, the QLINE, and a MoGo bike. It’s a fun video, and we appreciate the idea and the use of multiple modes of transportation in the city. But the MoGo bike violated one big safety issue: it rode along Woodward.

Before the QLINE started officially running, it released two safety videos. Since bikes can easily get stuck in the rail line, and Cass and John R are just a street away on either side, the M-1 rail suggests that bike riders take these streets instead of Woodward. It also suggests crossing the tracks at a 90 degree angle, since tires can get stuck in the track. Columnist Brian Dickerson decided to take Woodward anyway, and fell along the way.

We get it. A lot is changing rapidly here. We now have a streetcar and bike share—two forms of transportation we didn’t have last year. Let’s review the safety video one more time, and please, take an alternate street.