When cyclist Bob Kiger looks at the 22-mile Sprinter light-rail line under construction between Oceanside and Escondido, he sees more than tracks.

The 60-year-old Oceanside man envisions a new public-transit system that not only coaxes commuters out of cars and onto trains, but spurs many to leave their automobiles home all day.

Eagerly looking forward to the line's scheduled debut in December 2007, Kiger said in an interview last week that he has a vision for a bicycle network that would piggyback onto the Sprinter and provide a way for people to pedal to the train station -- and then pedal to work or another destination once off the train.

In one sense, the bicycle connection already is built into Sprinter plans. Each train car will come equipped with slots for storing two bikes, and each station will have lockers for at least eight bikes, said Tom Kelleher, a spokesman for the North County Transit District, the agency building the line.

However, Kiger's vision is grander. The man who friends call "Cruiser Bob" suggests the slots and lockers won't be enough to accommodate all the cyclists who will want to use the train to leverage and lengthen bike rides. And, so, he intends to ask the district to consider putting, at each station, a concessionaire that would rent bikes for the day.

He didn't have cost estimates, but was confident such a program would be well-positioned to win a federal grant.

Kiger, who pedals around Oceanside with his 8-pound female Pomeranian "Maile" in a basket, says the bike concessions would be to the Sprinter what the rental car system is to the nation's major airports.

The vision doesn't stop there. Kiger imagines the Sprinter as being a catalyst for a cycling concession network that would expand to include the Coaster commuter line, which runs between Oceanside and downtown San Diego, and Metrolink, which operates in several Southern California counties.

"We're in a prime position to model something for the entire country," he said. "Southern California is the world's most populated automotive society. If we can make even a 2 percent dent in the Southern California commuting population and get them onto bicycles, we will have done something extremely important."

Kelleher said the concept is intriguing.

"Something like that could be pretty cool at Cal State San Marcos," he said.

The perfect time to pitch the idea to public officials, Kelleher said, will be in September, when the transit agency holds a round of workshops to consider the best potential use of space at its Oceanside, Carlsbad Village and Escondido transit centers.

The workshops are scheduled for Sept. 13 at the Carlsbad Senior Center, Sept. 14 in the Community Room at Oceanside City Hall Plaza, and Sept. 18 in the Mitchell Room at Escondido City Hall. Each is to run from 6 to 8 p.m.

Sprinter, a $375 million project being built with a combination of federal, state and regional funding, will have 15 train stations. The line was originally supposed to open by the end of 2005. Now the first passengers on its sleek, diesel-powered cars can expect to board late next year.

In addition to the tracks, construction has begun on a parallel bicycle-pedestrian path dubbed the Inland Rail Trail.

This is not Kiger's first grand idea.

In January 1983, he pioneered a popular, breathtaking, 40-mile downhill bicycle ride for tourists from the top of Maui's 10,023-foot Mount Haleakala -- with its sweeping 360-degree panoramic views -- to the sparkling Pacific Ocean below.

Based on his experience in Hawaii, Kiger figures his Sprinter initiative would lure more bicycle/train commuters if they got lifts to their hilltop homes at the end of the workday. So he suggests concessionaires should provide shuttle service, too.

"That's the key thing -- to make it easier for them, because we are inherently set in our ways and somewhat lazy," he said.

Despite being set in our driving ways, Kiger is convinced the idea will catch on as did the volcano cruise.

"People -- some people -- will do it," he said. "And those people will be the fit people and the young ones and the cool ones, and pretty soon it will catch on and everybody else will be doing it."

Readers are encouraged to ask questions and submit ideas for commuter columns. Staff writer Dave Downey may be reached at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com. For the latest traffic conditions, go to www.nctimes.com/traffic.