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Bike racks


Amtrak7

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Can bike racks be put on NYC buses? According to this video, NYC is the only major city in the country without bike racks on at least some of their buses:

 

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/9315/weekend-video-buses-and-bike-racks/

 

The MTA has claimed safety problems with the bikes falling off, but if you restrict bikes from express routes and the M98, it shouldn't be a problem. Why hasn't the MTA done this? To save money, they don't need to put racks on buses older than an O7OG, they will be replaced with new ones that have racks.

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Bike racks can be put on express buses....look at CTTransit's D4500CL and CTs.

 

Bikes have fallen off local and express runs. When you put a bike on the rack you assume liability for it, should it happen to fly off the bus.

 

I think the (MTA) concerns are this:

 

Cost: How much to retrofit the older buses that they are keeping, plus add onto the new orders coming in. Is it worth it...will it attract more riders?

 

Safety: With the rack out, it will make it just that more harder to make some of the turns these buses make in places like Flushing,Lower Manhattan and other places. Also now it will make it harder for guys to pull in and out of bus stops.

 

Common Sense/Schedule Reliability: Its gonna be a learning curve for alot of people to put their bikes in the rack. It will eat minutes and then you have people that take their bikes off and just walk away....leading the B/O to secure the bus and go put up the rack burning more time.

 

And on a personal,selfish note....after the city screwed up 9th Av with those half assed bike lanes....the folks on bike had damn well better use them!

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Bike racks can be put on express buses....look at CTTransit's D4500CL and CTs.

 

Bikes have fallen off local and express runs. When you put a bike on the rack you assume liability for it, should it happen to fly off the bus.

 

I think the (MTA) concerns are this:

 

Cost: How much to retrofit the older buses that they are keeping, plus add onto the new orders coming in. Is it worth it...will it attract more riders?

 

Safety: With the rack out, it will make it just that more harder to make some of the turns these buses make in places like Flushing,Lower Manhattan and other places. Also now it will make it harder for guys to pull in and out of bus stops.

 

Common Sense/Schedule Reliability: Its gonna be a learning curve for alot of people to put their bikes in the rack. It will eat minutes and then you have people that take their bikes off and just walk away....leading the B/O to secure the bus and go put up the rack burning more time.

 

And on a personal,selfish note....after the city screwed up 9th Av with those half assed bike lanes....the folks on bike had damn well better use them!

 

The B/O does not leave the bus. If someone leaves the rack out, I think the bus needs to drive with the rack out until the end of the trip! As for tight turns, the racks don't stick out that much. Yes, the racks might reach over the sidewalk, but they shouldn't run into anything.

 

As for attracting more riders, it might do something to increase short-distance shuttle trips across bridges for people who don't bike because bridges like the Verrazano and upper East River aren't bike-friendly.

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The B/O does not leave the bus. If someone leaves the rack out, I think the bus needs to drive with the rack out until the end of the trip!

 

I know at CTTransit the rule is: If there is no bike in the rack it's suppose to be stowed. Yeah you could drive with it out, but with no bike out there you run the risk of forgetting that the rack is out and run into something with the rack. And yes....it's happened!

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Could it work in New York City? In some areas maybe. Long Island yes.

 

The one and ONLY reason I would be against something like that is because it would cause service days that we DO NOT need. It would counter everything the TA is trying to do now to speed up service. I've been on buses with racks in multiple cities, and unless the user is a regular bike-on-bus passenger, it can take forever! And don't let there be two bikes and the first person getting off with one has to retrieve it from the slot closest to the bus! There goes another 5 minutes, and you just missed the light now as well!

 

Now I ask. Could it work in New York City?

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Can bike racks be put on NYC buses? According to this video, NYC is the only major city in the country without bike racks on at least some of their buses:

 

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/9315/weekend-video-buses-and-bike-racks/

 

The MTA has claimed safety problems with the bikes falling off, but if you restrict bikes from express routes and the M98, it shouldn't be a problem. Why hasn't the MTA done this? To save money, they don't need to put racks on buses older than an O7OG, they will be replaced with new ones that have racks.

 

The (MTA) really SHOULD put bike racks on its buses. NJ, MA, LA County, etc et al do it. Certainly the "greatest city" in the world can do it too.

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In japan the roads are safe, and not falling apart.

 

NJT put racks on a large % of the 416's if not all of them, a few RTS have them too. I believe every septa bus has them as well. Being a bike rider i can tell you, having bike racks on busses opens a whole world of new routes & areas you can access vs trying to bike there and back no bus involved. NJT trains and most LIRR and MNRR trains as well as the NJ light rail & the RIOC tramway are all bike friendly, so, i think it's time to revisit the idea of putting bike racks on. Worst case scenario you end up locking them closed. It's not like people wouldnt use them either.

 

- A

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In japan the roads are safe, and not falling apart.

 

NJT put racks on a large % of the 416's if not all of them, a few RTS have them too. I believe every septa bus has them as well. Being a bike rider i can tell you, having bike racks on busses opens a whole world of new routes & areas you can access vs trying to bike there and back no bus involved. NJT trains and most LIRR and MNRR trains as well as the NJ light rail & the RIOC tramway are all bike friendly, so, i think it's time to revisit the idea of putting bike racks on. Worst case scenario you end up locking them closed. It's not like people wouldnt use them either.

 

- A

 

NJT has almost 100% of southern NJ buses with racks. Northern NJ is less, I guess because it's busier.

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Queens Surface had bike racks on a couple of their buses, especially their CNGs, I lived along a lot of Queens Surface routes before the take over and used to see them all the time- they were removed after the takeover of course.

Did you see any cyclists using bike rack on that day?

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Fix the damn roads first and then we can talk about this. I go through NJ and I can nap in peace and do some work if I need to. This evening I was trying to do some work and there were so many potholes that it was almost impossible! :mad: Rocking around and such on the express non-stop. I could see bikes falling off with the craters and potholes around in the city.

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