Zach Fleisher is an avid cyclist. The Bike Winnipeg board member takes his bike pretty much everywhere.
However, when it comes to taking his bike on city buses through the Bike and Bus program, Fleisher said he hasn’t had much luck.
Fleisher said he decided to try out the program to get to an appointment on Pembina Highway, but ended up having to use a bike locker when he couldn’t wait any longer for a bus with a bike rack.
“The problem is the Bus and Bike program isn’t widespread enough,” Fleisher said. “It’s kind of sporadic if you catch it, and it’s not really clear which buses are going to have the bike racks.”
Fleisher spoke of successful programs in the states, and attributed some of that success to more buses being equipped with bike racks.
“You’d see the majority of buses would have it, so you don’t have to think of it,” Fleisher said.
Counc. Janice Lukes (St. Norbert) told CTV News that she’s heard constituents express frustrations over the Bike and Bus program.
Lukes said while she thinks the city would be happy to purchase more bike racks, there isn’t enough room for buses with bike racks at the transit garage in Fort Rouge where buses are stored.
“By the time the bike rack folds up, there’s X amount of space, and the buses have to be stacked in there,” Lukes said.
“There has to be a corridor between the buses from a fire safety perspective, and by the time you get bike racks on, you can’t get all the buses in the bus garage.”
Lukes said the city is looking at how to increase the frequency of buses with bike racks on major corridors. She believes the city first has to look at how shift changes and buses changing routes affect the availability of buses with bike racks.
The City of Winnipeg said that 37 transit buses are equipped with bike racks on the front. Those buses operate on routes 160, 162, 170, 183, 185 and 60-four.
In a statement today, the city said transit is investigating ways to identify which buses are equipped with bike racks so that users can plan their routes accordingly.
