Bicycles aren’t suitable for being carried on buses

I am not a cyclist but I would support any DfT strategy that proposed more bike-carrying capacity on trains (‘Active travel: a revolution backed by PM’ LTT 07 Aug). I would not, however, support the DfT’s suggestion of carrying bikes in buses in rural areas, except perhaps in very rural tourist locations. 

The inside of a bus has much less circulating space than a train and so the presence of bikes on buses would seriously inconvenience other passengers. Nor do I support ‘external’ bike racks on urban buses, another idea the DfT wants to investigate. Loading and unloading these racks would cause unacceptable delays. 

An even better idea than more bikes on trains is ‘bike and ride’, with people cycling to their local station or bus stop, parking their bikes in secure accommodation, and catching the train or bus into town. All over continental Europe one sees extensive covered bike parking at train and bus stations, and there is often bike parking at ordinary bus and tram stops. This is even true of hilly Austria and Switzerland, and of cold northern Sweden.