Combining bike and bus travel is a part of everyday life in cities around the world, but a few weeks ago, this option was suddenly eliminated in Aotearoa. What are cyclists doing in the meantime, and when will there be a solution?
A bike rack on a bus is a simple solution to any number of problems. Maybe your bike has a flat tyre and you forgot to bring a repair kit. Or maybe it’s started pouring and the thought of riding to uni in the rain is unappealing, but the weather will be better in the afternoon. Maybe you’re still getting used to biking uphill, and the prospect of a ride in a bus on the way home is good encouragement to cycle down to the city. Maybe you want to drop your kid off at school on the bus; maybe you live on the other side of a tunnel or bridge that bikes can’t go on; maybe you want to get out of the city and want to bus to somewhere more quiet for a peaceful bike ride.
Whatever the reason that putting your bike on a bus is appealing, it’s currently not an option anywhere in the country. On November 8, a complete restriction on front-mounted bike racks on buses began, everywhere in the country. This followed an initial night-time ban that came in on November 2.
Most transport operators around the country have front bike racks on at least some of their bus services. These models, which can take two bikes and unfold and lock around the wheels, now have warning tape on them, preventing their use. The issue is a legal one: NZTA issued an alert in October, noting that on some bus models, having bikes on board blocked the headlights, meaning the vehicles didn’t comply with safety law.
Bike racks on buses have been operating in New Zealand for years and haven’t been implicated in any accidents. “We were surprised the [NZTA] notice had been issued without discussing implications for the industry, but we respect that NZTA wouldn’t issue an alert unless there was a safety risk,” said Delaney Myers, the chief executive of the Bus and Coach Association, in a statement.
As a precaution, the Bus and Coach Association (which all bus operators belong to) has banned all use of bike racks for the time being. “By law, buses must always be up to Certificate of Fitness (CoF) standard on the road, and lights can’t be obstructed at any time. When buses go for their CoF, the racks are empty. Testing by bus operators after the NZTA Industry Alert indicates most of the fleet won’t meet requirements with bikes on, and in most cases there is no quick fix,” said Myers. NZTA has established a working group with the Bus and Coach Association and councils to figure out a solution that will make buses compliant.
Transport minister Simeon Brown has asked NZTA to “find a fix as soon as possible”. The full ban has now been in place for more than three weeks, and there’s no timeline for when a solution might become available.
“I felt pretty gutted and defeated when [the ban] was announced,” said Elliot Weir, an Otago regional councillor. But they say there’s commitment to finding a solution. “Everyone wants it to get fixed.”
Peter Galbraith is a member of Greater Ōtautahi, a group of Christchurch residents focused on improving housing and public transport access. He’s been using the bike racks on buses to visit family in Rangiora. The bike means it’s much faster to get to the bus stop, and then get to his dad’s house at the other end. “Not having to bike all the way there saves me time, and not driving saves me money,” he says. Losing the bike rack means he has to take several buses for his journey. “It does inconvenience me – I’m not sure why they have to ban the racks during the daytime, when the headlights aren’t in use,” he said.
There has also been a flurry of frustration from thwarted bus-and-bike users in Wellington. “Having bike racks made it much easier to use active transport because I could avoid big hills, occasional bad weather and [it] helped out when my bike got a flat tyre,” said one commenter on Metlink’s post announcing the change in the capital.
“Because of this ban, I have to rethink my whole life,” said another commenter in a Cycling Action Network Facebook group. “All of a sudden I have lost flexibility and everything costs more and takes longer.”
Patrick Morgan, a spokesperson for Cycling Action Network (CAN), has found the bike racks useful, too. “Bikes and buses complement each other – if you can access the bus stop by bike it expands the catchment of the bus route,” he said. He has a friend who regularly uses the bus and train to bring a bike from Te Horo into Wellington so they can ride together.
“It’s weird NZTA didn’t foresee [this issue] – now they have to clean up the mess and in the meantime passengers are being impacted.”
Making the bike-rack-fitted buses fit legal requirements might take a while; suggestions include moving headlights or adding lights to the racks themselves. In the meantime, other ways of uniting buses and bikes are under consideration.
Metro, Christchurch’s public transport operator, has set up a small vehicle with a bike rack that follows the Lyttelton bus through the tunnel, so people can get to town without having to bike over a big hill. “It’s a tiny bus that follows the big bus, it looks quite funny,” Galbraith said. While the bike-bus and the normal bus don’t have perfectly aligned schedules, it’s better than nothing.
The “no more bikes on buses” edict might have flown under many Aucklanders’ radar; New Zealand’s biggest city doesn’t allow (non-folding) bikes on buses, although limited numbers of bikes can be taken on ferries and trains. That might be changing; at the same time that the rest of the country has had the option to take bikes on buses eliminated, Auckland Transport has been running a trial of allowing bikes inside the Northern Express buses, which take passengers from the Hibiscus Coast and Albany into downtown Auckland. Preselected volunteers took part in the trial, which could pave the way for a wider rollout of bikes inside buses in the future. AT infrastructure and fleet specification manager Edward Wright said the trial of two different bike rack designs had gone well and next steps “could be further trials at a potentially larger scale”.
While travellers might be frustrated that buses currently can’t take their bikes, a final note from Myers is a reminder to frustrated travellers. “We know this is hugely disruptive for the people who rely on [bike racks]. In the meantime, we ask people don’t take out their frustration on the drivers – this wasn’t their decision.”