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How to take your bike on the bus

How to take your bike on the bus

http://youtu.be/M9Q9YXEm8s0

I remember the first time I took my bike on the bus. It was years ago. I was on the 99 B-Line, and a lot of people were watching me and waiting for me to load the bike so we could get on with the journey.

I could see the general concept of how it worked, but the bike just didn’t seem to sit right. The bus operator was nice enough to give me some helpful visual bike miming with his hands through the windshield. It turned out that I didn’t pull the support arm high enough so the bike was sitting too loose in the rack. Once I pulled up the arm and moved it so it almost touched the neck of my bike frame, it was snug. The anxiety of the moment soon drifted away after I boarded the bus and we moved along to the next stop.

If you haven’t had a change to try a bike rack on a bus before, TransLink has just posted this video on the TransLink YouTube account on how to do this.

Besides this video, text on all you need to know about how to load your bike on the bus can be found on the TransLink website. For convenience, I’ve taken the vital info and posted it below.

Besides these pointers, my only additional tip is to always keep one hand on your bike until you’ve properly secured your bike with the support arm. This will make sure your bike can never fall back on you.

Restrictions

  • To fit in the rack, bikes must have a minimum of a 40 cm (16”) diameter wheel.
  • Motor-assisted bikes of any kind are not permitted.

Loading and Unloading Your Bike

Here’s how to load and unload your bike:

  • Before the bus arrives, remove loose items such as water bottles, pumps, and panniers.
  • Tell the driver you want to load your bike, and then lower the bike rack by pulling on the handle.
  • Lift your bike onto the rack.
  • Lift the support arm up and over the front tire.
  • Sit at the front of the bus and keep an eye on your bike.
  • When leaving the bus, please tell the driver that you need to remove your bike. Exit from the front door.
  • Remove your bike and raise the rack to the upright position.

Currently, bus racks require bike wheels that are a minimum of a 40 cm (16”) in diameter. Buses can take a maximum of two bikes at a time. So be prepared to potentially wait for a bus with space available to take your bike.

If you have any additional tips on taking your bike on the bus, please share them!

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