RENT-A-GOAT Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 Am I the only one who interprets "Integrated transport" to involve, somewhere along the lines, being able to take your bike on a bus? Why is it then, that Warrington Borough "Transport" refuse to allow a pedestrian with a cycle, on a bus that is empty (therefore adding to congestion and pollution), to complete part of their journey? When I enquired at the information office, they said it was on grounds of "health and safety" (I didn't raise the minor H&S "issue" of their drivers regularly cutting up and squeezing off cyclists on the roads) This council-owned company ought to buck its ideas up. You have empty buses tear-arsing around all day yet you deny certain passengers travel. What a shambles. Look at Manchester - you can take bikes on any bus and metro. But then again they all have competing bus companies - something which is severely lacking in Warrington and has made this company complacent. If WBC want to encourage more people to get out of their cars then they have a funny way of showing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 why on earth would you want to take a bike on a bus? If you are a tree hugging, save the whale type lefty; surely the very idea of getting your lycra clad butt off the pedal powered chariot to ride on a planet killing bus would be at odds with your ideals? I can see the attraction of getting on a bus if you are a bit tired, but why take your bike out in the first place if you intend to get on a bus? might as well go in the car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RENT-A-GOAT Posted November 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 True, however this morning I had a snapped chain about 1/4 way into work (manchester-ish) It's not the sort of thing you can fix easily at the roadside. It was either a quick jump on the bus to work (but noooo), a 4 hour remainder walk to work, or a 2 hour walk back home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 A four hour walk to work pushing a broken bike Explain your dilemma to someone and leave you bike with them. Then get on the bus without a problem. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 True, however this morning I had a snapped chain about 1/4 way into work (manchester-ish) It's not the sort of thing you can fix easily at the roadside. It was either a quick jump on the bus to work (but noooo), a 4 hour remainder walk to work, or a 2 hour walk back home You were 1/4 of the way to work when your chain snapped so you then faced a further 4 hours of walking to get there Flippin' heck why don't you just get a car, it's so much easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 erm if you were a quarter of the way towards work and it would take you two hours to walk home then if my maths is right then it would have been a six hour walk to get to work. unless there were a few long downhill sections you could free wheel down and make up time i can understand the reference to being a health and safety issue. if another passenger happened to catch themselves on the peddles or something then the bus company could face a substantial claim for compensation and the driver would be liable for letting you on the bus with it in the first place. however they let those huge baby buggies on which are much more of a health and safety issue as they take up so much room and are difficult to get on and off the bus easily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 I'm amazed that bikes are allowed on buses. I know that on trains they have a special section where bikes can be stored, surely buses don't have that sort of space available. Then of course if they are allowed on buses, since Warrington have small buses as well, some cyclists will demand to put them on those as well. Tricky one. Maybe people need to think about living nearer their place of work if that is at all possible....then they can walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 How did you resolve your problem? The same thing happened to me when I used to work at Lingley Mere and it took me over an hour in the dark and rain so I sympathise with your situation. However the buses aren't designed to take bikes, unlike trains, but they do cater for push chairs and disabled. Most of the buses travel within a four mile radius which is well within a cyclists capability. Your situation was different in that you broke down but Bill's advice is solid surely there would have been a local resident who would have looked after your bike whilst you got to work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 How did you resolve your problem? The same thing happened to me when I used to work at Lingley Mere and it took me over an hour in the dark and rain so I sympathise with your situation. However the buses aren't designed to take bikes, unlike trains, but they do cater for push chairs and disabled. Most of the buses travel within a four mile radius which is well within a cyclists capability. Your situation was different in that you broke down but Bill's advice is solid surely there would have been a local resident who would have looked after your bike whilst you got to work? And anyway why didn't you take your goat you could have ridden it to work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Many buses in the USA have external bike carriers on the front. http://www.wmata.com/riding/bike/bike_safety.cfm?PrintFriendly=Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Maybe people need to think about living nearer their place of work if that is at all possible....then they can walk. Shame on you Paul.... Norman Tebbit will never promote you with lefty talk like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Many buses in the USA have external bike carriers on the front. http://www.wmata.com/riding/bike/bike_safety.cfm?PrintFriendly=Y They would get stolen in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Anyone brave enough to steal a bike attached to the FRONT of a moving bus deserves to get away with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RENT-A-GOAT Posted November 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 surely there would have been a local resident who would have looked after your bike whilst you got to work? Damn, if only I was naive enough to think my bike would still be with said resident (read: stranger) when I got back I could have been to work so much sooner I'm amazed that bikes are allowed on buses Erm, they're not in Warrington. Tricky one. Maybe people need to think about living nearer their place of work if that is at all possible....then they can walk. being a counciller I suspect you may be immune to the goings on in the real world, where jobs and livelihoods are at stake. If we all had the luxury to choose to live near our place of work, I suspect some of us would be moving house every 5 minutes due employers closing down all the time and moving to eastern Europe. Not that we have Thatcher to thank for such things Just another out of touch opinion I've come to expect from the Tories EDIT: spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 and a typical "blame it all on Thatcher" response from a supporter of the current government? Thatcher has been gone from politics for almost 20 years and still people would rather try and pin the blame on her rather than the incumbent bunch of prats we have at the moment.... give it a rest and blame Brown... 11 years he has been pratting about with our economy and for 11 years we have steadily been heading down hill. All the gold has gone, all the reserves have gone and now he is thinking about playing a very dangerous game with sterling.... If he carrys on, I wouldn't worry about your pensions; there wont be any value in anything anymore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Exactly, Baz J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Thatcher left a legacy that remains, and has been carried on by Bliar and Brown - UNTIL - the present credit crunch has bitten back at her philosophy of let the market do what it wants Reaganomics. A practical demonstration is often the best proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 So pray tell exactly what is this mystical "legacy" that she is supposed to have left behind that is so impossible to detract from? If therefore she was THAT bad, why did Blair and Brown carry on her work? Why do Labour supporters always blame Thatcher when; if what you are saying is true, Labours own two prime ministers and in fact the governments are just as culpable? In fact it is a complete nonsense... Maybe the old "she took away our milk" rant will come next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 Afraid your tilting at windmills if you suggest I'm supporting the lot that's in power at the moment; quite the opposite cos they've just carried on with the Thatcher Reagonomics that have now exploded for all to see; a deregulated free market capitalism. The supreme irony of course, is that they've been forced to adopt (no doubt temporarily) the socialist idea of nationalising the banks in order to salvage the situation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RENT-A-GOAT Posted November 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 and a typical "blame it all on Thatcher" response from a supporter of the current government? Please don't assume I support this bunch of buffoons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 So given you don't trust the people of Warrington, Manchester, Irlam or wherever it was that your chain came off - who do you blame for the lack of bus cycle provision and could Observers Communist State provide the solution to your needs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 Observers utopia is based on a totally free market system which is owned entirely by the stae!! If we could have that, maybe we could get somewhere eh?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 Who said there was any corrolation between the free market and Utopia? Seems your "every man for himself" philosophy doesn't work on our road system either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 I'm still interested in how Rent-a-goat actually got to work on the day his bike broke down - HOW DID YOU? I must congratulate him for cycling to work though especially if its going to take him 6 hours by foot which in my estimation is upto 15 miles!!! I used to cycle to New Town House and back and then Lingley Mere when we moved which is about 8 miles away but as I've said above my bike gave up on me. I also travelled to Manchester on it but via the train however there was often a bit of agro from passengers as I tried to squeeze on so I can imagine the difficulties of trying to get on a bus. Maybe something like a ski rack on the back of buses travelling over 5 miles might be useful and good safe cycle areas for storage. Whilst I'm on I'd like to see safer/improved and signed cycle paths. The paths are there it's just that they are not developed as they are in Holland for example. Now they know how to cater for cyclists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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