Not to long ago in Des Moines the city bus dept. installed bicycle carriers on the fronts of their busses. They are designed to carry 2 bicycles. I believe they are installed on all of them. This was advocated for & I even signed a petition to support it & I don't even live here. I also know in other communities this is happening too. I am sure in the places where the busses have the carriers the feasability of it was investigated to see if there was a need.
I have been considering doing the same thing in Sioux City. First I will make some phone calls to see if there is a need. If I think there is then I will go from there, organize a group of people or use one if the existing local organizations, the 2 that are there are the bike club & the trail foundation, to advocate for it.
I could use some advice though. Who would I call? Do I call the bus garage directly? Do I call city hall? I know the bus dept. is part of the city, I think it is part of the public works dept.
Has anyone here ever advocated &/or organised for something like this? Where/how did you start? Should I take a differant approach then making phone calls to the city departments? One of the questions I will ask is has anyone ever expressed a wish to have a way to transport a bike on the bus while they ride. I also think I will ask some cyclists as well. Though I do not think too many of them use the city bus system. I will at least ask if they think it is a good idea.
Advice please.
larue
07-27-06, 10:05 AM
Sioux City should have a website with links about the public transportation system. Check it out and see who to contact from there.
If you want to be an advocate I think that it's great, but you might want to consider seeing if a board exists for bicycle and pedestrain safety or any other city groups that would relate to bicycle advocacy. Try to get on board and contact the active members about how to advocate in your area.
As far as the racks go for busses, I'm surprised to hear that they don't already exist. Sounds like something that would be worth rallying for.
pmseattle
07-27-06, 10:13 AM
I wouldn't call the garage directly, since the people who work there are maintenance workers like mechanics who wouldn't be responsible for making this kind of decision. Find out who the manager of the transit department is and contact his/her office. Or since your transit system is part of the city, contact the mayor's office. One other thing, there are two types of racks commonly installed on city busses - one type holds two bicycles and the other holds three. Make sure they know about this and get the racks that hold three.
nova
07-27-06, 10:13 AM
You might be plesently suprised at how open the city might be to this. ve contacted metro here and not only did they like the idea they already have some busses equiped like this and wiill be adding to others over the next couple year. They are adding during scedualed maintainence and repairs.
Also i bet your city will tell you the same thing even if there is no rack they will allow you to bring your bike on the bus if there is room. I dout how ever the city is in charge of such things but will point you to the company in charge of it. At that time that company will contact the city for aproval of the needed funding.
Tom Stormcrowe
07-27-06, 10:20 AM
Not to long ago in Des Moines the city bus dept. installed bicycle carriers on the fronts of their busses. They are designed to carry 2 bicycles. I believe they are installed on all of them. This was advocated for & I even signed a petition to support it & I don't even live here. I also know in other communities this is happening too. I am sure in the places where the busses have the carriers the feasability of it was investigated to see if there was a need.
I have been considering doing the same thing in Sioux City. First I will make some phone calls to see if there is a need. If I think there is then I will go from there, organize a group of people or use one if the existing local organizations, the 2 that are there are the bike club & the trail foundation, to advocate for it.
I could use some advice though. Who would I call? Do I call the bus garage directly? Do I call city hall? I know the bus dept. is part of the city, I think it is part of the public works dept.
Has anyone here ever advocated &/or organised for something like this? Where/how did you start? Should I take a differant approach then making phone calls to the city departments? One of the questions I will ask is has anyone ever expressed a wish to have a way to transport a bike on the bus while they ride. I also think I will ask some cyclists as well. Though I do not think too many of them use the city bus system. I will at least ask if they think it is a good idea.
Advice please.
I happen to think this is a great idea. Here is a link to our Bike rack page in the site for GLPTC (http://www.gocitybus.com/ridingcitybus/bikeracks.htm). I'd suggest a petition drive, starting through your LBS might be in order. It can be funded federally under the Mass Transit Act, by the way.http://www.cosgan.de/images/midi/sportlich/n055.gif
edit: For what it's worth.....this is an excellent posting N_C!
Mr_H
07-27-06, 10:32 AM
I'm curious to see what you can find out about this. I happen to know that the Bus routes go by my house and work place (with a transfer), but there's no bike racks on it, so no using it :/
Zinn-X
07-27-06, 03:07 PM
Buses in Santa Cruz CA have bike racks installed. I can't even count the number of times I've used it, and how useful it is. The only annoying thing is waiting for a bus when there's several people with bikes who will snag the racks before you do.
nova
07-27-06, 03:28 PM
I happen to think this is a great idea. Here is a link to our Bike rack page in the site for GLPTC (http://www.gocitybus.com/ridingcitybus/bikeracks.htm). I'd suggest a petition drive, starting through your LBS might be in order. It can be funded federally under the Mass Transit Act, by the way.http://www.cosgan.de/images/midi/sportlich/n055.gif
edit: For what it's worth.....this is an excellent posting N_C!
Well id hold off on a petition untill i emailed them and they got back to me or call them (your preference) i dont sugest postal mail city officials still get swamped. Found out a budy of mine works for the mayors office in the mail room he said its a hidious ammount of mail. So id phone and or email. Keep it friendly short and to the point. Explain why you think its a good idea etc. They may already have a plan in place and may even be adding them now bfore you even contact them. But if they do not already have plans they may be intrested in knowing how much demand there realy is or be all for it but want some idea of how large a capacity each rack would need to have etc. Then you go to the local bike shops cyclign clubs emailing writing phoneing to get what ammounts to a signiture list survey showing how big the demand is.
In short dont jump the gun and go strait to a more threatening meathod such as a patition.
See what their reaction is to the simple sugestion of bike racks on busses first.
And + 1 to the great post comment
filtersweep
07-27-06, 03:46 PM
Is the city even large enough for such a need? You could probably bike anywhere in a half hour- which is probably less time than it would take for the bus to show up.
N_C
07-27-06, 04:00 PM
Like I said I need to find out if there is a need for the carriers. That is the first step I think. I will not contact the bus garage but the city clerk's office instead. They will guide me to the right dept., I think they even transfere the call too. I'm going to do this one step at a time. This way resources are not wasted in the process. It doesn't take too much time to make a phone call & ask a few questions. If the need is there then I'll have to plan the next step. Getting the appropriate people involved to advocate for it. I'll let you know what happens after I make a few phone calls tomorrow.
_dhan_
07-27-06, 04:07 PM
we've got those racks here in Austin. It's pretty nice for cutting down that long commute when it's rainy, windy, or your legs are just plain tired. Unfortunately, with the increase in gas prices, demand is starting to catch up to supply. I've been left by the bus a couple of times because there were already two bikes. Anyways, I really like having the option of taking the bus.
I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say "go for it".
nova
07-27-06, 04:07 PM
Like I said I need to find out if there is a need for the carriers. That is the first step I think. I will not contact the bus garage but the city clerk's office instead. They will guide me to the right dept., I think they even transfere the call too. I'm going to do this one step at a time. This way resources are not wasted in the process. It doesn't take too much time to make a phone call & ask a few questions. If the need is there then I'll have to plan the next step. Getting the appropriate people involved to advocate for it. I'll let you know what happens after I make a few phone calls tomorrow.
Well g here we thought you needed help :)
Seriously sounnds like you got a pretty good plan going now. Id be almost willing to bet its going to be fairly easy to get it rolling.
N_C
07-27-06, 04:11 PM
Well g here we thought you needed help :)
Seriously sounnds like you got a pretty good plan going now. Id be almost willing to bet its going to be fairly easy to get it rolling.
I do need help. Thanks for the advice I am using it.
donnamb
07-27-06, 04:31 PM
Like I said I need to find out if there is a need for the carriers. That is the first step I think.
One thing to keep in mind that we have learned about bikes in Portland: if you build it, they will come. Oftentimes, providing good bicycle facilities (and I think bus racks fall in that category) actually inspire more people to ride their bike. For instance, say you have a pooerer person taking 4 buses or something for 2 hours to get to their low wage job. It's 25 miles away and this person would never consider riding that far. Then these racks start to appear on buses and they begin to think if they rode a bike, they could get away with a 1 or 2 bus ride that only takes 45 minutes. It saves them time, possible money, and improves their health. If you asked them if there was a need before the racks are installed, though, they might tell you they have no need for one.
BTW: The racks that most transit systems use in the US have a place for advertisements which is visible when the rack is folded up and is prominent at the front of the bus. They might be able to recoup part of all of their costs by selling the ad space.
supcom
07-27-06, 04:51 PM
Is there a problem with bring bikes onto the city buses in your city? If not, then why should the city pay a lot of money to buy, install, and maintain racks, not to mention create user and driver training material for their use?
McDave
07-27-06, 06:04 PM
Is there a problem with bring bikes onto the city buses in your city? If not, then why should the city pay a lot of money to buy, install, and maintain racks, not to mention create user and driver training material for their use?
I would imagine it's that hard left turn about half a bike length inside the bus door while going up steep steps. Then the safety factor of blocking the isles in case of emergency if you do manage to get the bike onboard. This in the US. Are buses different where you live?
Tom Stormcrowe
07-27-06, 06:10 PM
Is there a problem with bring bikes onto the city buses in your city? If not, then why should the city pay a lot of money to buy, install, and maintain racks, not to mention create user and driver training material for their use?
Because there is Federal Funding already set aside in the Mass Transit Act for it. To get the racks on the bus is a good thing! We have them here and they are used quite often! There isn't really space on a bus to bring a bike into the interior safely. The exception might be a bagged folding bike, but I don't happen to have one of those, and I have used the bus to get me and the bike home when the weather goes really bad on me or I've had a mechanical I couldn't fix, such as a completely split sidewall blowout, rather than calling the wife to come get me.
ZachS
07-27-06, 06:27 PM
Buses in Santa Cruz CA have bike racks installed. I can't even count the number of times I've used it, and how useful it is. The only annoying thing is waiting for a bus when there's several people with bikes who will snag the racks before you do.
Isn't that when you ride half a mile up the road?
supcom
07-27-06, 09:19 PM
I would imagine it's that hard left turn about half a bike length inside the bus door while going up steep steps. Then the safety factor of blocking the isles in case of emergency if you do manage to get the bike onboard. This in the US. Are buses different where you live?
I see. In Dallas, the buses have a fold-up bench seat at the front for wheelchair access that works great for bikes as well. A bike in this area does not block the aisle. I've found that most of the time I've boarded a bus with my bike, I had no difficulty maneuvering it to this area. Obviously, a full bus is a problem. But that was the main point of my post. I was wondering of the OP knew if the buses in his city were heavily utilized and if there are a large number of riders wanting to bring bikes aboard. I got the distinct impression that the OP saw buses in a nearby city that had bike racks and saw a solution in search of a problem. If the buses in his city are running at 25% of capacity, then there may not be a need for bike racks.
nelson249
07-27-06, 09:39 PM
Things to consider:
1) Find out if there are others that think like you do. Perhaps start with clubs, student unions of universities and colleges and even local bike shops. Already existing organisations make life a whole lot easier.
2) Do some preliminary research in regard to cost and maybe see what kind of experience other transit systems have had with bike racks on buses. For example see the website for Grand River Transit:
http://www.grt.ca/web/transit.nsf/DocID/6A24334E452B5D7385256C2500685AEA?OpenDocument
This will help defuse instant criticisms on the basis of cost.
3) Do research on possible avenues of funding for equiping the buses.
4) Think about parking for bikes around key bus stops. See the following URL:
http://www.grt.ca/web/transit.nsf/DocID/05437D68A61CCF7C85256B52005FD7BC?OpenDocument
I have noticed a lot of buses running with a bike or two in the racks around here and there seems to be many more people using transit as a result. Best of luck and keep us posted on developments
The Human Car
07-28-06, 09:54 AM
FWIW and off the top of my head:
New buses with bike racks - $200 extra
To retro fit a bus with a rack - $500
The total cost of putting up a road sign $200 (pole, sign and labor)
A speed hump $5,000
nova
07-28-06, 01:27 PM
FWIW and off the top of my head:
New buses with bike racks - $200 extra
To retro fit a bus with a rack - $500
The total cost of putting up a road sign $200 (pole, sign and labor)
A speed hump $5,000
Can be less than that on retro fit or new buss with. Many bike shops would trade rack for ad or deep discount for add or just deep discount to show their support.
The added cost for retro fitting would be from pulling the bus off its route and out of service during the retrofit. All busses have repairs that need done and oil changes engine work etc on a yearly basis. While this is all being done by one person some one else can be adding the rack. This way no money is lost from the ride fees.
supcom
07-29-06, 03:59 PM
A quick google search found one company that makes racks for city buses. The cost about $570 each. Installation is, of course, not included.
Keep in mind that a bike rack for public use must be pretty stout to withstand the abuse that inevitably occurs. That's going to add to the cost compared to a consumer car rack.
nova
07-29-06, 04:31 PM
A quick google search found one company that makes racks for city buses. The cost about $570 each. Installation is, of course, not included.
Keep in mind that a bike rack for public use must be pretty stout to withstand the abuse that inevitably occurs. That's going to add to the cost compared to a consumer car rack.
Ouch Sounds like the cities buying them are getting ripped off.
N_C
07-29-06, 04:31 PM
I do not know how heavily used the buses are in my city. I do not use the bus system. I am doing this to try to improve life for others that do. I have no problem with public transportation, I think it is great & needed. I have seen bikes locked up at the bike rack on the outside of the transportation building where the bus central transfere point is. This in part is what has prompted this. We do have 3 colleges in this city & I know studenst use the bus to get to & from school & work during the school year. This is the other half of what prompted this idea. Another thing is we have a large group of people who either can not afford a car or can not drive one that use the bus. Some are less fortunate. But I bet they could afford a decent bike & this will give them more freedom to go other places.
As I said I am trying to improve my community. I care about it & want to see it succeed.
John E
07-29-06, 07:07 PM
Every bus in San Diego County has a well-engineered fold-down 2-bike carrier on its front bumper. My experiences with these (and with the drivers) have been uniformly positive.
Every San Diego Northern Railroad Coast Express Rail (Coaster) coach has roll-on accommodation for two (older coaches) to six (newer ones) bicycles.
N_C
08-02-06, 04:50 PM
I called the city transportation mgr & it is very feasable & there is a need to have the bike carriers on city busses. It has been looked at in the past but the funding end of it has stopped the process. Apparently the transportation mgr was told it would cost $4,000 per carrier. I find this hard to believe. I believe what he was told but don't believe it costs that much for 1 bike carrier installed on a city bus.
I am going to speak with the president of the Siouxland Trails Foundation to see if we can help with funding as a matching program & also try to find how much the carriers cost for the city to purchase.
So I got my foot in the door on this & it looks like if I can help bring it all together it will be something worth accomplishing.
N_C
08-02-06, 04:55 PM
After looking on the internet I am unable to find any manufacturers or pricing info. on bike racks for city busses. Can anyone help me with this? Advise me on what to type in for a search or post a link.
Thanks.
ZachS
08-02-06, 05:00 PM
I would go to www.trimet.org (portland's local bus service), do a search for whoever's in charge of bike/bus stuff, and send an email explaining the situation and asking to be pointed in a useful direction.
Keep it up! I'm glad that you're working on this.
Bruce Rosar
08-06-06, 12:09 AM
After looking on the internet I am unable to find any manufacturers ...
Sportworks Bike-Rack-for-Buses (http://www.bicycleracks.com/busracks.asp)
... or pricing info. on bike racks for city busses. The bike racks cost about $570 per bus (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/63174_bend21.shtml)
Advise me on what to type in for a search ...Google: "bike-rack-for-buses transit"
N_C
08-06-06, 05:11 AM
Thanks Bruce. I'm going to give them a call on Monday & see what they will cost for Sioux City then advise the transportation mgr to see what can be done.
N_C
08-07-06, 12:33 PM
I called Sportworks, they are sending me an info. packet & emailing me a quote. So the next step has been taken. After I receive the info. I will contact the trails foundation & the transportation mgr & go from there.
cat4ever
08-07-06, 03:18 PM
Keep us updated.
N_C
08-10-06, 06:53 AM
I received the email with the quote for the Sportworks bike carriers. Granted it is for a certain make & model of bus & I do not remember what Sioux City uses. But the quote for the carrier that can carry 3 bikes is about $1,200, the one that carry's only 2 is about $990. I do not know who told the city transit mgr the amount is $4,000 per carrier but even paying someone to install the carrier would not cost that much, plus the guy installing them will probably be paid his regular wage by the city.