It’s great to have a bicycle! Have you ever wondered what opportunities bicycles open up for you? While most people in the city languish in a sweltering bus, they breeze down the road, deftly maneuvering between cars stuck in traffic. At a time when most people are walking, exhausted from the heat, it rolls quietly on its way. Let’s not dwell on the fact that the bike is the optimal load on the heart, a good exercise for the lungs and, of course, pumped up hips and glutes. But even cyclists occasionally need to use public transport with his iron friend. But is it possible to carry a bicycle on the bus? Today let’s talk about what rules a cyclist must follow in order to use public transportation without hindrance.
In what situations is it necessary to carry a bicycle on the bus
In practice, these situations arise very rarely, and decent cyclists prefer to ride on two wheels rather than four. They bought their bikes for a reason! Nevertheless, situations are different. Suppose you need to take your bike to the shop. What do you do? You do not have to carry it in your arms all the way! So that is the first situation. There are other cases where public transportation can not do without, for example:
- you have neither the moral nor the physical strength for the return trip;
- the bike is broken and needs to be taken home or to a repair shop;
- the riding place is far away, so you have to take the bus a little way;
- the bike you just bought.
Understandably, everyone can have an unforeseen situation where they need to get on the bus with their bike. So it wouldn’t hurt to know what the rules are for carrying a bike on the bus. Let’s talk not only about city routes, but also about transport that takes people from one locality to another.
Rules of carrying a bicycle on the bus
As such, there are no categorical rules for carrying a bicycle on ground public transportation (bus, trolleybus or streetcar). Yes, you’re not imagining things. In fact, there is no separate paragraph about carrying a bicycle. You may take baby carriages, hand luggage of certain sizes, there are special requirements for animals, and there are some bans on passengers, but there is no paragraph that says you can’t take bicycles with you. Relax early: this does not mean that you can safely enter the bus with a bike and you will not get anything for it.
Transportation on a city bus
According to the “Rules of land passenger transport” passengers have the right to carry one piece of hand luggage, the total length, width and height of which does not exceed 180 cm. It is clear that the bicycle does not meet these parameters. This means that the inspector has the right to kick a passenger out and issue a fine. It turns out that the bike before you go with him on the bus, you need to disassemble and pack it so it does not take up much space and does not cause discomfort to other passengers. Now tell me, hand on heart, how many of you take your bike apart and put it back together all the time when you get on public transportation? In practice, cyclists are free to get on the bus with an unassembled bike and ride to their destination just as freely. But they can do so as long as they do not meet on their way too strong controller, who will demand to pay for the transportation of oversized luggage or simply drop the bus, writing a goodbye fine. Here, as they say, everything depends on luck.
Therefore on the question of whether you can carry a bike on the city bus, you can not give a categorical answer. On the one hand you can. On the other hand you can not, because the bike does not meet the parameters of hand luggage.
Transportation in regular (intercity) buses
But this is a completely different story. It’s a lot easier to take your bike on a coach because it has a large enough load compartment to easily fit a bike. But then another problem arises: the driver. It is with him you have to negotiate if you need to transport a bicycle. As life shows, many bus drivers for some reason do not like this type of luggage, so again it all comes down to your luck. It is clear that you can call in advance to the station, find out the name of the driver and his phone number, to agree in advance with him and take other steps to get into the cabin with your iron friend without hindrance. But it is unlikely you just give the phone number, and bother about this you become, most likely, only when it is really a long road.
Penalties
We found out if it’s okay to ride a bicycle on the bus. Now it remains to find out what is fraught with transportation without packing and disassembling the bike. According to the same “Rules of land passenger transport,” the passenger has the right to carry one piece of hand luggage, the total length, width and height of which does not exceed 180 cm. Anything above this limit is subject to an additional charge. If you are unlucky and you ran into a categorical inspector, carrying a bicycle in public transport may end up with a fine. Some carriers have so-called “happy hours” when passengers are entitled to free bicycles on all public transport. Most often from 11:00 to 16:00 and from 21:00 to 06:00. In addition, during the summer, when the number of cyclists increases noticeably, there are various promotions and programs in which a passenger can carry his or her bicycle for free. Exact information is available on the websites of carriers. To take the bike, you need to take a special free ticket at the terminals installed at the stations.
Conclusion
Summarizing all of the above, there is only one conclusion: riding a city bus together with a bike is a bad idea. Firstly, you take a risk. Secondly, you bring discomfort to other passengers, because the back areas are not so spacious that there could fit 2-3 strollers and even a bicycle. As for the buses, then really better to agree in advance with the driver or to prepare the bike for the carriage of the appropriate way, that is, disassemble and packaged in a cover, so as not to raise unnecessary questions.
Often food peddlers with huge bags and dirty bicycles ride on buses in Moscow. Do they have the right to use public transport?
Despite the above, cyclists with their big bikes are always climbing onto the bus, and now they’ve added electric scooters to the mix! It’s unlikely that they’d get on the bus with their bikes if their starting point was near where they live, which means they have a long way to go and it takes too much effort to get to where they need to go. They already have to ride their bikes all day long, covering a huge amount of mileage, which takes a lot of energy to get us lying on our beds so they can deliver food to us while they’re hunched over. And home after their shift is over, they’re not likely to have the energy to pedal home. So from that point of view you can understand them and why not, especially if he paid for the transportation of the bike on the bus? Public transport is not about “comfort and convenience,” so something to charge them is not worth it, especially if they paid double fare. If you don’t like it, take private transportation, what’s the problem?
I don’t think they’d take the bus with their bikes if the start of their work was near where they live, which means they have a long way to go and it takes too much energy to get there. They already have to ride their bikes all day long, covering a huge amount of mileage, which takes a lot of energy to get us lying on our beds so they can deliver food to us while they’re hunched over. And home after their shift is over, they’re not likely to have the energy to pedal home. So from that point of view you can understand them and why not, especially if he paid for the transportation of the bike on the bus? Public transport is not about “comfort and convenience,” so something to charge them is not worth it, especially if they paid double fare. If you don’t like it, take private transportation, what’s the problem?
Public transport is not about “comfort and convenience,” so you should not charge them anything, especially if they have paid double fare. If you don’t like something, take private transport, what’s the problem?