Corsaire

NJ Transit just announced that their new fleet of buses will be on the roads by late August, roomier aisles, seats w/more leg room, etc, and most importantly will have front bike racks.

Have anybody from other cities confirmed that these things really work for commuter bikers?

Corsaire

bmclaughlin807

My experience with the bike racks on buses: They're nice, but don't rely on them for commutes... At least around here they're frequently full and you have to wait for the next bus (And hope that one isn't full, too!)

They're usually good for off-hours, though... depends on the route and time of day... some routes around here are full almost all the time.

Corsaire

NJ is not big on bike commuting, like perhaps Denver, so I hoping most bus bike racks will be empty at least most of the time.

Corsaire

vestarita

Our city buses either hold two bikes or three depending on the bus that is assigned to the driver that particular day. Last year when I was riding my bike to the bus stop, a spot on the rack was more easily guaranteed in the morning as my stop was one of the first and it was the first run of the day. I rode with a co-worker who also had a bike, so if we had one of the two-bike buses anyone else with a bike who wanted to ride was out of luck until we got off. There was one instance in three months when I was trying to go home in the evening and the rack was full, so I had to wait 40 minutes for another bus to come. It may be different where you live, but here there are a lot of college students and I'll bet a free rack will be hard to get when the semester starts on Monday, especially since the price of gas is what it is and students ride for free.

Fairmont

North County Transit District (in San Diego, North County) has had these since I was a kid. The public transportation system in San Diego County is as close to perfect as you can get, and has been that way for a long LONG time (since I was a little kid, as mentioned). The bus is cheap, clean, safe, and they all have bike racks on the front of the bus. The Coaster (a mid-speed train) runs from one end of the county to the other (about 60 miles in total) in under an hour, and is cheap and clean (and allows food, drink, and bikes). Plus, the Trolley system goes all over downtown and to the border of Mexico.

You can't live in a better place to be a bicyclist commuter than San Diego County.

Fairmont

I meant to add: Athens, as that other guy mentioned, is a great place to ride a bike as well. I lived there from 92-95. I was a Bulldog, woof, woof, woof.

Okay, it sounds cool at the games.

vestarita

I'm a lady.

But yeah, I see cyclists around all the time so there must be something good about it. The aforementioned prospect of waiting for a bus and having the rack full is why I don't take the bus anymore.

Thelonius

I've seen quite a few buses with bike racks here in South Jersey but they're always empty. Most folks in my neck of the woods take the River Line trains which are bike friendly

Fairmont

Oops, sorry about that.

And for a minute, I guess I misread your last sentence. I thought, for a second, that it said you stopped taking the bus because of a full rack.

I'm a little silly today.

vestarita

Well, I stopped taking the bus because the rack might be full when it gets to my stop and it's an inconvenience to me to wait for another to come by, so the anticipation of that happening put me off taking the bus. I'm weird like that. But anyway, it takes the same amount of time to bike to where I'm going as it does to ride the bus to the same place. The way things are going I might even be faster than the bus one day. woo!

benda18

if you have fenders you may want to do a dry run fitting first. the arm that secures the bike to the rack could interfere with your front fender.

Corsaire

Unfortunately for me riding my bike all the way to work is not an option. Local and arterial roads end by mile 8 or so (my route is 15 miles to work) after that the only way to cross is getting on big, high traffic hwys.

Corsaire

Avraham

Do you have a link? I did not see a notice on the website.
Is this for South NJ only? No bicycle racks in the North so far.

Corsaire

https://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servl...eAction=FYI4To

no1mad 

We've had racks on the buses for a couple of years now. They just launched the "Rack-N-Roll" program: free use of a bike for 24 hours for bus riders (who apply/get approved). Some truly fugly Giant Simple's.

Jerseysbest

On the campus buses that served my university (very spread out) most if not all buses had bike racks and I found them to be very easy to use.

After one or two uses, you can have you bike loaded/unloaded in a matter of seconds, granted you can easily lift and maneuver your bike.

danadear

I use the bus rack in Columbia SC. Not a big commuting community so I haven't even seen another bike on the rack. Easy and quick to use too but then my bike is very light.

Thelonius

Sorry, no link. Just something that I've noticed as the busses roll by my house. I've yet to see any of the racks in use.

famelec

They work great and are easy to use! On my route into San Antonio there is never a problem getting a space.

If NJ Transit doesn't have an online video showing how they work, you can find plenty on youtube.com. If there are no other bikes on the rack, they ask you to place your bike in the space closest to the bus.

The first time I commuted by bike/bus my only surprise was that the rear end of the bike (with rack and tank/pannier loaded with work clothes, shoes, lunch, etc.) weighed a lot more than I expected. Not a problem loading it up, just surprised how much extra weight I was carrying!

Brian