Bikes on some bus routes begin today

As of today, people using the Heathcote bus service, number 35, will be able to carry their bicycles on buses through the Lyttelton tunnel.

Environment Canterbury and bus companies, Leopard Coachlines and Christchurch Bus Services are undertaking a six month trial to assess the usefulness of the six buses with cycle racks. People who might like to bike one way or part of the way to town and back, or who like cycling but have found the Lyttelton road tunnel a barrier will be able to use the racks for their journeys.

Leopard Coachlines has the bike racks fitted to all its Heathcote buses and one other biodiesel-powered bus on the Ilam Mount Pleasant route.*

Christchurch Bus Services has the racks fitted to its two biodiesel-powered buses which operate on the number 13 Redwood/Hornby route and the Northern Star 90/92 to Rangiora*.

Each bus will have two bike-carrying racks on the front. The responsibility for loading and unloading the bicycles is the cyclist’s. A pamphlet with instructions is available at the Bus Exchange and on all buses with bike racks.

One condition of bike rack use is that cyclists will not be able to carry their bikes all the way into the Bus Exchange or load there, said ECan assistant passenger services manager David Stenhouse. “This is because of space constraints and safety issues at the Bus Exchange. “

“The aim of the racks is to integrate public transport with other modes of travel and also to make places like Lyttelton, where the road tunnel is the main accessway, more cycling-friendly. If this trial is successful, the service may be extended to enable people in other parts of the city to combine cycling with bus travel.”

If more than two cyclists are waiting for the Heathcote bus, it will be a case of first in, first served, David Stenhouse said. The bus runs at 20 past the hour and ten to the hour from 6.50 am to 5pm leaving Lyttelton, and at five past the hour and 25 minutes to the hour from 8 am to 6 pm from the Hagley Ave/St Asaph St Parkside Terminus in town back to Heathcote/Lyttelton. For full timetables – www.metroinfo.org.nz

ENDS

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