It's fantastic to see that, as of Monday, StarTran will feature bike racks on all of its buses. I hope Lincolnites use them. I would have loved to have access to a bike rack back in my bus-riding days. Having access to a bike would have shaved time off my commute and it would have given me more options for which bus I could catch (meaning less standing around waiting at the bus stop).
One question remains unanswered for me and, although it's moot, I'm still curious about it. For years, one of StarTran's excuses for not pursuing bike racks was that the buses wouldn't fit in the garage with bike racks attached. What changed? Did the buses shrink? Did the garage grow? Are the racks some new type that wasn't previously available?
Another question that may be relevant to air-headed commuters is what happens to bikes that are forgotten on the rack. (You may scoff, but it'll happen.) StarTran's website says that lost bikes will go to Capitol Towing's impound lot. Are bicyclists going to have to pay an obscene fee to recover their bikes? I sure hope not.
I'm eager to see if Lincolnites use this new opportunity to expand their commuting options. I would try it in a heartbeat if my commute were longer than a walk downstairs. Do any of you plan to take advantage of this?
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I’m glad they are doing this. Unfortunately, like you, I rarely need to ride a bus these days so I doubt they’ll help me out much, but 2 years ago this would’ve been awesome. I guess this might be a good way to get my bike home if I were to have mechanical problems though.
We’re excited about this! My husband woks at the UNL and rides the bus to/from each day. Since they changed the downtown routes he has found it’s faster to walk from Golds to the U vs. trying to wait for one of the buses that go around downtown. With the bike option, he can hop off at Golds and bike his way to work. We figured he will get home faster as well, because when he walks, he misses his bus home by 5 minutes and has to wait for the next one.
YES YES YES. On those day when I have to get home faster than I can ride, or if the weather changes.
This is great!
I just talked to Capital Towing, and they have no idea, really. The woman I talked to said that StarTran is partially correct. The bikes that are left on racks would be retained by LPD’s property unit, remanded to Capital Towing for storage, but Capital Towing has no vested interest one way or the other about the property itself. She said any other questions would probably best be answered by the property unit at LPD.
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