Bike Pittsburgh

my other bike is a port authority bus

so, i had this idea, and i am looking for some thoughts:

i think that the port authority should start selling stickers, t-shirts and etc. that say "my other bike is a port authority bus." the proceeds can go towards getting more bike racks on buses, educating drivers on not running cyclists over, or whatever else cycling related.

thoughts, ideas?

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

i like it - there should be a bike rack on every bus :)

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

Before they start selling stickers, they should make sure that the buses actually have the fucking racks. How hard is this? You can print the damn cards that list the routes, but you can't actually run the buses with the racks on those routes?

Rack and Roll is fucking useless. You can't depend on it at all.

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

rack and roll isn't perfect, but it's also not useless, it has helped me more than once and i'd be sad to see it go.

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

Before they start selling stickers, they should make sure that the buses actually have the fucking racks. How hard is this? You can print the damn cards that list the routes, but you can't actually run the buses with the racks on those routes?

Rack and Roll is fucking useless. You can't depend on it at all.

Alright, simma dahn nah. We feel your frustration, but I just had a meeting with the Port Authority and they're still committed to the program. It turns out it's actually quite difficult, logistically, to keep racks on the designated routes, but they're going to try to fix it.

This is due primarily to the fact that the entire fleet is not yet outfitted with racks. With the latest bus purchase of 100 new buses with racks (which will all be in the system by 2009) and retiring 100 old ones without racks, we're getting closer. Bike Pittsburgh is going to work with Port Authority to go after federal funding to outfit more buses in coming years. Federal funding for racks are only available every 2 or 3 years so it may be a couple of years, but this will be a big push for us.

As far as the logistics of keeping designated rack routes consistent — what ends up happening, esp during peak bus periods, is that a non-rack bus (say, the 91S) might be transferred over by a computer to become a 54C which is supposed to have a rack on it.

The Port Authority is going to study which routes typically go from a non-rack route to a rack route and look into ways to fix that. We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime things are looking up and will hopefully become more reliable in the next year.

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

by 2009 all the bridges will be closed off to vehicles over 200 lbs though so it won't even be useful to have bikes racks on the busses because they won't be allowed to cross the rivers

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

Scott, I appreciate that you're working to fix this - but my point remains:

PAT didn't spend the money to outfit all their buses, so they say they'll run them on certain routes.

They do a piss-poor job of running them on those routes, but continue to promote the program all the time.

It not during "peak" times that it bothers me when one bus doesn't have a rack. During peak times, there will be another one soon enough. Its off peak, when there won't be another bus for 40 min that it's a problem.

If you're taking public transit to, you know, get somewhere at a certain time and a bus that's supposed to have a rack but doesn't, and there's not another for half an hour, well, by the criteria I use to judge a public transit mode, that's pretty fucking useless. Because, again, when you're using public transit, you're not out for a joy ride, you're trying to get somewhere at a certain time. If you can't do that, then you can't use that mode. If you can't use it, then it is, you know, useless.

So, take this as feedback to PAT: from the perspective of someone who wants to love public transit, from someone who has no car but nonetheless would, on occasion, like to be somewhere at a specific time; if you say that you can take your bike on a specific bus, then, please, let people take their bikes on the fucking bus. If you can't manage to put the right buses on the right routes, then (off-peak) let us take our bikes in the unused back door. Or something. Because, yes, in response to the surprised driver of a 7:45pm 500, people do ride their bikes in the winter.

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

I'm assuming, Morgan, that you've called their complaint line, but for everyone else who hasn't used it and has experienced a problem with the racks don't be afraid to. Click on the link below and then scroll to the bottom:

http://bike-pgh.org/news/blog/resources/bikesontransit

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

Hey, look at this:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08054/859757-53.stm

PAT is adding 160 racks! Awesome.

This little story does say that they'll add new routes, though - I hope they get the message about improving reliability on the routes they already advertise first... good thing we have a cyclist advocacy group...

RE: my other bike is a port authority bus

They've already received the message about improving reliability. I followed up with someone already and they're trying to figure out how to ensure the buses with racks are routed correctly. It's going to take two or three months, but they're working on it.

I'm pretty sure that 100 of these 160 racks are what we announced last month in the eMessenger.