Question - Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate

Question

Number
1252
Subject
Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate
(Buses without Bike Racks)
Asked by
Kikkert, Elizabeth
Directed to
Minister for Transport and City Services
Question asked on
31 May 2023
Answer due on
02 July 2023
Question asked
  1. Why don't all buses have bike racks.
  2. Is it the intention that all buses will have bike racks; if so,  what is the timeline for that to be achieved.
  3. How many buses in the existing fleet without bike racks will have bike racks by the end of the year.
  4. What determines whether bus services are assigned a bus with a bike rack.
  5. Once a particular bus service is assigned a bus with a bike rack, will that bus service always have a bus with a bike rack for the duration of the current timetable.
  6. How can a bus user determine, ahead of time, if a bus service will have a bus with a bike rack assigned.
  7. How would a bus user ensure they get to their desired location on time and with their bike, if there is no way for a bus user to gain certainty on whether a particular bus service will have a bus with a bike rack assigned.

Answer

Answer Published
21 June 2023
Answered by
Minister for Transport and City Services
Answer
  1. Steer-Tag buses are unable to have a bike rack fitted due to the length of the vehicle.  Poncho buses (not owned by Transport Canberra) are too small to fit bike racks safely. 
  2. Yes, the intention is for all larger commuter buses to have bike racks. The timeline for this will be dependent on the retirement and subsequent replacement of Steer-Tag buses. 
  3. None. All buses that can be fitted with a bike rack currently have one.
  4. The buses without bike racks (Steer-Tags) can only be assigned to certain routes due to their length and requirement to only travel on approved roads. Due to this and the larger loading capacity, these vehicles are assigned to higher frequency services and trunk routes (i.e. rapid services). 
  5. 93.85% of Transport Canberra’s commuter fleet have bike racks fitted. Generally, routes that have buses with bike racks will continue to do so, unless there is a requirement for a service to be covered at short notice and the only available fleet is a Steer-Tag. This can only be done if the route is on approved roads for Steer-Tag buses. 
  6. Passengers can use NXTBus to identify if their bus will have a bike rack on the morning of their journey as the vehicles are allocated each day.
  7. As per answer (6), passengers can check on the day if the service they require has a bike rack.
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