rosscbrown
New Member
Following hot on the heels of the 'bikes on trains' thread, why is there not more provision for bikes on buses?
I'd cycle a lot more if I could take my bike on the bus - here are a few reasons:
1) Insurance if you will - if I'm heading to work and have a mechanical failure I can throw the bike onto the bus and still make it to the office on time. Or back to the apartment to fix the problem in the comfort of my own home. Or when the weather is being uncooperative.
2) Fixing the final mile issue. I spend some of my time out in the sticks and about 20 miles away from the nearest major town. The closest bus stop is 4 miles away. There is also no cycle parking at the bus stop so to continue my journey on the bus would mean leaving my bike somewhere not very secure. Likewise at the other end of my journey the larger town does have in-town bus routes but not very many nor very frequently. The place is idea for cycling in so having the bike to do a few miles there would be great.
3) New/longer recreational routes. To a degree you can do this with the trains - take the train somewhere (say 30 miles away) and cycle back. Good when you don't fancy doing a circular route (or want to ride downhill only / with a tailwind)
4) And lastly, laziness.
Lots of cycles have had great success with fold down bike racks on the front of buses but not very many OK operators, if any, are consistently bike friendly. Shame really.
I'd cycle a lot more if I could take my bike on the bus - here are a few reasons:
1) Insurance if you will - if I'm heading to work and have a mechanical failure I can throw the bike onto the bus and still make it to the office on time. Or back to the apartment to fix the problem in the comfort of my own home. Or when the weather is being uncooperative.
2) Fixing the final mile issue. I spend some of my time out in the sticks and about 20 miles away from the nearest major town. The closest bus stop is 4 miles away. There is also no cycle parking at the bus stop so to continue my journey on the bus would mean leaving my bike somewhere not very secure. Likewise at the other end of my journey the larger town does have in-town bus routes but not very many nor very frequently. The place is idea for cycling in so having the bike to do a few miles there would be great.
3) New/longer recreational routes. To a degree you can do this with the trains - take the train somewhere (say 30 miles away) and cycle back. Good when you don't fancy doing a circular route (or want to ride downhill only / with a tailwind)
4) And lastly, laziness.
Lots of cycles have had great success with fold down bike racks on the front of buses but not very many OK operators, if any, are consistently bike friendly. Shame really.
.
