Bike racks for a small inter/intra-transit setup?
05-19-05, 11:42 AM
#1
when come back, bring pie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Central Washington
Posts: 75
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I just started working at a local paratransit outfit. Most of our clients are those that can't get around well on foot or are in wheelchairs, but we've always had no problem with transporting ambulatory folks that either don't have any other way to get around or can't drive for some reason.
We mostly do door-to-door service, meaning we pick up the client at their home and take them directly to their destination. We don't have routes in the sense of regular public transit, but that's being considered. Most of our business is intracity, but we're doing more and more intercity runs to parts of the county 30 miles or more away. The intercity runs are mostly station-to-station, meaning clients either have to wait for the next "bus" at the office in the other city or walk to their destination. Most of the intercity travellers are those who work in other parts of the county. We're also doing more and more "just because" rides -- people who just want to go see the sights.
With that in mind, I would love to see bike racks on the intercity runs. That way we could take people to the other side of the county and they could ride directly to their destination rather than walking or waiting for the next transit to their destination. The sightseers could ride around some of the more remote (and beautiful) parts of the county, then take the bus back to wherever they came from at the end of the day. It's less critical on the intracity runs because the cities we operate out of are so small one can easily walk or ride if they don't take the transit.
We currently have about six vehicles; only one has a bike rack and I haven't investigated whether or not it works. There are plans to purchase two or three more vehicles in the coming months. We're a nonprofit firm which opreates on donations from our riders. With that in mind, I would love to suggest a place where we could either have some bike racks donated or get some really inexpensively. Does anyone know of any avenues I could investigate?
On that same wave, it would be nice to have some stationary bike racks at the offices. The office I work out of has no bike racks, so bikes are forced to lock up to posts which support an overhang. Granted, I'm the only one that rides to the office now, but I can see so much potential for biking support through our office. We also provide small grants to help people fix up their cars; why not advocate for cycling? Alas, that's a much more formidable challenge, but getting racks on the busses would be a start.
We mostly do door-to-door service, meaning we pick up the client at their home and take them directly to their destination. We don't have routes in the sense of regular public transit, but that's being considered. Most of our business is intracity, but we're doing more and more intercity runs to parts of the county 30 miles or more away. The intercity runs are mostly station-to-station, meaning clients either have to wait for the next "bus" at the office in the other city or walk to their destination. Most of the intercity travellers are those who work in other parts of the county. We're also doing more and more "just because" rides -- people who just want to go see the sights.
With that in mind, I would love to see bike racks on the intercity runs. That way we could take people to the other side of the county and they could ride directly to their destination rather than walking or waiting for the next transit to their destination. The sightseers could ride around some of the more remote (and beautiful) parts of the county, then take the bus back to wherever they came from at the end of the day. It's less critical on the intracity runs because the cities we operate out of are so small one can easily walk or ride if they don't take the transit.
We currently have about six vehicles; only one has a bike rack and I haven't investigated whether or not it works. There are plans to purchase two or three more vehicles in the coming months. We're a nonprofit firm which opreates on donations from our riders. With that in mind, I would love to suggest a place where we could either have some bike racks donated or get some really inexpensively. Does anyone know of any avenues I could investigate?
On that same wave, it would be nice to have some stationary bike racks at the offices. The office I work out of has no bike racks, so bikes are forced to lock up to posts which support an overhang. Granted, I'm the only one that rides to the office now, but I can see so much potential for biking support through our office. We also provide small grants to help people fix up their cars; why not advocate for cycling? Alas, that's a much more formidable challenge, but getting racks on the busses would be a start.
