Bicycle Network: Where to Ride

Folding bikes allowed on metro buses

15 February 2008 Today the Minister for Public Transport announced that from April 2008 folding bikes will be permitted as luggage on metropolitan buses. Guidelines for this will be prepared. 

General update on bikes and public transport

31 January 2008. Plus summary of our meeting with the Minister  Link to page 

2007

We believe that bikes should be allowed inside metropolitan buses in a general space for luggage, bikes and wheelchairs (providing that space is not required by disabled people). The luggage area might have flip up seats. 

Melbourne is to gain new trams and buses that comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). These vehicles will be designed with low floors and enough space to accommodate wheelchairs. This means plenty of room for bikes too. About 10% of the fleet are expected to be DDA compliant in five years.

Bike racks on the outside of metro buses

We consider bike racks on buses as a lower priority. Racks are:

• expensive to fit on a bus fleet. Each one costs around $5000. Brisbane spent more than $500,000 and were only able to offer the racks on a few routes.
• unreliable. Due to rescheduling the rack buses appeared on other routes and the rack routes had rackless buses.
• low impact. Over three years only 4000 riders used the racks.
• low cost benefit. It cost $125 to put a bike on a rack. A taxi voucher would have been cheaper.
• There are a number of other problems such as slowing the service and riders forgetting their bikes.

Nopetheless the racks on bus systems do operate in the US and they could have some application here. For example on a service up the hill from Lilydale to Chirnside Park or in Templestowe. 

A study in the US attached concluded

'While added rack capacity and an effective bikes-in-bus (BIB) policy can improve the integration of bicycles and transit, it is recommended that transit agencies invest in a bike-to-transit strategy...centered on the provision of bicycle parking at bus stops and transfer centers to accommodate BOB users that need their bicycle on only one side of their transit trip.'