Removal of bike racks from buses

[beauyboy]

Taken from citynews, www.questnews.com.au



No time for bikes on council buses
BRISBANE, May 15: Bike racks on Brisbane City Council buses are to be phased out after a trial of the carriers was dubbed a flop.
Buses on routes including the 444 high frequency route from Moggill to Southbank, the 432 route from Kenmore to the University of Queensland and buses on the Great Circle Line service - spanning an area from Chermside and McDowall to Sunnybank - have been fitted with the bike racks, which are attached to the buses' front, since 2002.
The initiative had been promoted by council as part of the integration of cycling into the public transport system.
But no new bike carriers are being bought, with Lord Mayor Campbell Newman saying the trial had shown the scheme was a waste of time and money.
``It was a good experiment but it didn't work,'' Cr Newman said.
``The problem with it is..the bike rider hails a bus, the bus stops, they have to get to the front of the bus, put it on the rack and that all takes time,'' he said.
``This has been literally slowing down a bus full of people.
``It really was not something that ultimately has enough benefits for the cost and time.''
Cr Newman rejected the phase-out would damage plans to make Brisbane more cycle-friendly, citing the opening of the new King George Square Cycle Centre and the $100 million earmarked for bikeways in the next four years.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union bus divisional organiser Mick Layt agreed with the trial findings, saying that the racks were not being used enough to justify the thousands of dollars that each carrier cost.
But Bicycle Queensland development officer Andrew Demack said he would have liked the option to have remained.

I am not happy about this. The main reason why this has failled is because it is not guarentied that the buses on these routes will have a bike rack fitted. It is management that has failled in my eyes not the idea.

Donald

[tallywhacker]

um, I thought the main idea of having a bike was to ride it or were the racks for fixed gear hipsters who have a bike as a fashion accessory

[beauyboy]

Well the routes that had racks added to were long and difficult to beginner riders. They were also route that it would be illegal to ride a bike eg the Great Circle line which goes across the Gateway bridge which until the new bridge is built can not be crossed on a push bike.

Donald

[MountGower]

It all adds up at the ballot box. They'll think of something before the next election. It's a way off yet.

Hey Donald, as an aside, it looks like I may become a regular user of the Normanby Fiveways Bypass.

Hilarious, although I mainly bagged it because it goes nowhere. I'll still have to battle my way to the Michelton - Redcliffe path. Still a strange irony there though.

[beauyboy]

nah nah. yes I know there needs to be a northern link out of the city linking to the Normanby fiveways bypass and the kedron brook path.

Donald

[beauyboy]

Two more articals from www.questnews.com.au

Westside news.

Boy is left in dark

BELLBOWRIE, May 28: Four empty Brisbane City Council buses recently left a 14-year-old boy stranded after dark because he had a bike.

Bellbowrie's George Wirkus said four council drivers told him to wait for the next bus, because those buses would have a bike rack to hold the bike.

After George waited in the dark for more than an hour, his father Randolf, who works on Saturdays, had to come and pick him up.

Mr Wirkus said he was furious at how the drivers handled the situation.

"Considering the amount of money spent on advertising you would think the Brisbane City Council should review their policies," Mr Wirkus said.

"I was of the understanding that most buses did have racks on the front of them to carry the occasional bike.

"What would it matter if the bike went inside the empty bus anyway?

"What's happening to our society? Nobody gives a stuff until it's too late."

However Brisbane City Council transport committee chairwoman Jane Prentice backed the drivers and said it was too dangerous to take a bike inside a bus.

"In the event of a sudden stop, an unrestrained bike could become a dangerous missile and potentially injure passengers or even the driver," Cr Prentice said.

"This boy's parents could have checked with TransLink as to whether buses servicing that area at that time had the bike racks."

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman recently announcing they would phase out bike racks on buses.

"The problem with it is ... the bike rider hails a bus, the bus stops, they have to get to the front of the bus, put it on the rack and that all takes time," Cr Newman said.

Westside news
Bike racks on buses to go after trial flop

BRISBANE, May 28: Bike racks on Brisbane City Council buses are to be phased out after a trial of the carriers was dubbed a flop.

Buses on routes including the 444 high frequency route from Moggill to Southbank and the 432 route from Kenmore to the University of Queensland were fitted with the bike racks, which have been attached to the buses' front since 2002.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman rejected concerns the recently announced phase-out would damage plans to make Brisbane more cycle-friendly, citing the opening of the new King George Square Cycle Centre and the $100 million earmarked for bikeways in the next four years.

Bicycle Queensland manager Ben Wilson said while phasing out the trial was "disappointing", he had been assured by the council that it would transfer its energy into other areas concerning bicycles.

"The bike racks are still in a shed somewhere, maybe these initiatives will encourage people to be more accepting of bikes and hopefully, it can be re-introduced in five years time," Mr Wilson said.

While Cr Newman deemed the trial a flop due to "slowing down a bus full of people", Mr Wilson said he expected people to become more accepting of bikes in the future given the rising fuel costs and other council-driven initiatives.

[sogood]

The question is, how many here have actually used that kind of rack?

There are a lot of those buses around in California. For all the times I've been there, I have never seen one bike on them.

[MountGower]

Trusting my bike to someone who has no respect for my life is a bit of a put off. I've never seen a bike on one of those racks either. I'd like to say I've never seen a bike in one of those stupid vertical racks at a bus stop either, but in all honesty I saw one once.

[beauyboy]

Lets be clear this service would most proable be mostly used by slower and weaker riders. These are the people that are mostly likely to not want to ride unless there is a dedicated bike path. I have seen them but not enought people know about them.

Donald

[scottyj]

Well, we can use the racks up here in Cairns. The people of Kuranda are a very bikey lot, but there is a mountain range between them and the fine cycling city of Cairns. BikeRacks are a regional solution for us. Perhaps we could get them cheap of Brisbane City Council?

Anyway, I have dropped the seed with Cairns City Council and will see if it sprouts.

If anyone knows of the fate of these racks now in August 2008, can you please let me know.

Thanks.
Scott Johnston