"Bike Bus", any experience?
 

I loved the pictures of bike commuting in Utrecht.

Just now in Bahrain, the weather is really perfect, bright and cool, maybe 23 C in the mornings, about the same in the evenings

The 'company town' is about 15 kms from the refinery where most work. Traffic is unskilled, unobservant, pushy. The company has a declared but unacted support to environmental concerns.

I think it'd be great to organise a 'bike bus' of maybe a hundred commuters, with a security truck in front and another behind, with secure bike parking and clothes lockers.

Has anyone here experience of getting something similar to work?

The problem with buses is that you are dependent on their schedule. You have to sit there and wait until it arrives. The reason people commute by bicycle (or by single-occupancy motori vehicle) is so that they can set off when they are ready, not before, not after. And then in the case where you're trying to organize a large group of riders with a "rolling closure," everybody has to be going to the same place, riding at the same tempo, arriving at the same time. In my experience, this is pretty much against the grain of most people who take up cycling. Most consistent, long-term commuter cyclists I have known have tended to be loners, rebels, and social misfits, who don't like conforming to others' schedules! Yes, this is purely anecdotal, but I certainly fit the mold!

L.

Me too. I can't imagine waiting around for a group ride twice a day.

I find it amazing that the first reaction to an unusual idea is negative. "It won't work because..." Rather than: "Let's see how we can make it work." It costs nothing to try it. Think what would have happened if good ideas of the past were not successful because someone didn't think it would work.

Well, I think I understand what you are getting at. From what I remember from some of your reports, motorists in Bahrain are crazy, hence the security trucks front and rear, to act as a rolling safety barrier for the cyclists.

This would require that most of the people riding worked the same shift and got off at a specified time and have the same route of course. It sounds like your situation might fit the bill.

I haven't ever heard of bike buses, except with respect to school children. No reason it couldn't work as long as you could get support from your fellow co-workers.

But then, personally I avoid group rides whenever possible.

Good luck on your project. Keep us informed.

There was a video posted on Bike Forums just a few weeks ago that showed a group of high school students who had formed a bike bus. From listening to them talk about it I got the sense that what made it work was the joy and camaraderie they derived from commuting to school as a group, so I don't think it's accurate to characterize bike commuters as loners. Some were leaving home early in order to participate. It was pretty informal; it appeared they had just selected a time and place to meet each morning, and that was it. I think that casual approach is the most likely to succeed. Just meet up and go.