Time for the bus to get the bike

Just how integrated do we want our transport to be? Far from seeing bikes as competition, some bus operators are allowing them on board

Richard Armitage

06 August 2010

Richard Armitage is managing director of Richard Armitage Transport Consultancy. Dave Holladay of Transport Management Solutions assisted in the preparation of this article.

The Go North East 78 service has been allowing bikes on board since July last year

Two very different companies, Go North East (part of a large plc) and West Coast Motors (a small independent), have something in common: they both run bus services that can carry full-sized bicycles on board.

Colin Craig, managing director of West Coast Motors, explains: “All it took was a sticker on the window and an inertia-reel seatbelt to restrain the bicycle”. WCM’s 448 service from Skipness to Lochgilphead in the West of Scotland provides connections to three ferries. It...