Melbourne Cyclist

Cycling in Melbourne Australia

Bike racks on Buses

I stumped them over there with this. Maybe some of you guys can answer this?

It just occured to me. Melbourne buses dont have bike racks. I noticed in most of the US cities I visited last year, that nearly all of the buses have bike racks fitted. In some cities, as a "bike 'n' ride" commuter, you get to travel for free.

Is there any sensible reason why Melbourne's buses dont have these facilities.

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Permalink Reply by RobE on February 6, 2009 at 6:21pm
Exactly....

even the Kiwis are getting in on it now...:)

Bus bike-rack trial successful - Christchurch News - The Press 10:41
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
Christchurch News - The Press
Successful trial in NZ, drivers happy racks didnt delay service...
... USA experience (eg: in Colorado, Oregon , Washington DC and Texas) shows operators and police and users find the systems safe and very beneficial to communities and operators and policing and that fears by some before installation were unfounded.
Permalink Reply by Andy on February 8, 2009 at 7:48pm
Its great to see another post following the issue of bike racks on buses.

I did a post last year more generally about bikes on vline buses - regardless of whether on racks or not. Vline and the Vic Government dont seem interested. They seem more interested in keeping rules simple and clear for drivers than on something practical and common sense - like what about "bikes on the bus when there's room"

see http://www.melbournecyclist.com/forum/topics/1684380:Topic:18685 for the post I did last year.

i'm still interested in pursuing this.
Permalink Reply by Maureen Fisher on October 17, 2012 at 11:11am

Me too

As a person who camps off her bike my bike is my transport to the camping park and then around town couldn't afford to travel without it. But its getting harder to do .On recent trip to Mildura with my folder in its bag the first driver insisted that it was a suitcase implying that bikes were not allowed and the driver on the way back just pointed to the no bike sign on the luggage compartment.This was despite V Lines web site that says they accept folders. It seems that V Line drivers are uninformed .This means that you cannot embark on any journey with any any degree of confidence.Attached are Bicycle Net works policy and Canberra's 

Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Cyl on October 18, 2012 at 9:25am

In conservative Australia this will never be implemented, until maybe, the rest of the world already has. I also saw these in Whistler, Canada, and they were widely used.

Permalink Reply by Tim on October 29, 2012 at 5:08pm

Used to have them in Perth years ago

Permalink Reply by Alan Parker on October 29, 2012 at 7:31pm
alanpar@labyrinth.net.au
Tel 613  5984 3578
The problem lies in the interpretation of the design rules by state and Commonwealth agencies who have scuppered "bike on bus" proposals for at least 15 years. The Commonwealth allowed "bull bars" to be put on all vehicles including that of car drivers with a history of traffic offences and caused a lot of injuries. They then prevented the the use of bike racks at either end of the bus because they said that it increased the length of the bus and according to the road rules that meant that some buses needed an extra couple of rear wheels to accommodate the extra length. Ha.Ha,Ha.
The Victorian state goverment went along with that for a few years and then like most other states went along with the notion that professional bus drivers would be endangering pedestrians despite excellent accident record of professional bus drivers per million km driven.
Underlying all of this from the 1970s when the issue of sustainable transport was first raised as a major issue the entrenched petrol heads in the bureaucracy who thought climate change and peak where a load of bull went on their merry way covering australia with tarmac.
Now reality is going to catch up with them and the bicycle movement needs to go on the attack.
The Action bus company in the ACT is setting a good example and doing a great Job.

       Whoever negotiated these regulations does not understand that the "devil is in the detail" and that the "bag" in legislation would empower a hostile minister, connex CEO or rail line line manager to make life very dificult for folding bike users on the both the bus and rail system in the future. The state is changing transport legislation across the board and this requirement is now part of it. Most owners of folding bikes are children and women and their bikes do not come with a bag. I have talked with some of the cyclists who negotiated the "bag regulation" and they have fold ups costing $1500 to $ 2000 and they do not represent ordinary bike riders.

Indeed the greatest advantage of using a fold-up bike on the trains (not folded up) is that they are about 300 mm shorter than a 700 mm wheeled bike and when placed at the side of the train doors allow the other rail patrons to walk past them along the passageways.  I have been making 4 train trips abonce week using my Dahon fold-up out of the rush hours and their is no problem at all using them on any of the carriages except for the the door next to the drivers cabin which the is used by motorised wheelchairs who need the the fold up ramps.
On rush hour trains it another stor. when travelling Contraflow if folded the bike can be used in the front and rear carriages which are not as crowded as the  centre  carriages.
bye Alan
Permalink Reply by Maureen Fisher on October 29, 2012 at 10:13pm

My folding bike is an Aldi and it does come with a bag trouble is that the bike weighs 161/2 Kilograms which in its folded state makes it extremely difficult to carry especially if you have other stuff ie you have to transfer it on and off the bus or train You also have to figure out how to carry the bag because its not small.

For myself I haven't had any problems with the trains including Vline where usually you can just roll a full sized bike straight on.Its the V line buses that are the problem. If these buses had racks it would make  travel a lot easier and the rail trails more accessible.

I think it been mentioned before the Bright to Wangarratta rail trail is serviced by buses it does very well 45000 visitors a year this must be a boost for tourism and reason for other railtrails to follow suite.

Permalink Reply by Oscar Weasley on November 13, 2012 at 6:16pm
They cost money, and may be perceived as unsafe. The main issue is IMHO how many people would really use them regularly.

In the IT age it should be easy enough to organise a system where you book ahead for a 'bike rack equipped bus'. That would reduce the cost of outfitting all buses for a relative handful of users.

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