Month: February 2016

Bike Bus services in Hitrans and Moray linking Health Centre

Bus passengers can now take their bike for a ride thanks to new services launched by Stagecoach, Hitrans and Moray Council in Scotland.

Hitrans and Moray Council.Bike racks have been fitted to buses travelling between Elgin, Kinloss, Findhorn, Forres, Hopeman and Burghead, and local services to and from the new Forres health centre will increase to run every hour droping-off inside the health centre grounds. The £213,000 project which started in 2015 has been funded for two years by Hitrans, Stagecoach, Moray Council and the Bus Investment Fund.

The project will include the introduction of a new Sunday service linking Burghead, Cummingston, Hopeman and Duffus with Elgin, using buses equipped with external cycle racks for adult and childrens’ cycles.

The initiative meets the aims of Moray Council’s Transport Plan and Urban Freedom project in offering increased public transport provision to minimise short car journeys and hence reduce emission levels.

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Inverness to Durness Highland Bike Bus

Operated by D&E Coaches, the Inverness to Durness Bike Bus is something different, offering you the opportunity to take your bike, or just yourself for that matter, to some of the Highland’s most picturesque places without the burden of taking your own car, meaning you can sit back and enjoy the scenery.

DurnessThis is a summer service, operating from May 19th – September 16th, 2016. Service 804 travels west from Inverness, via Strathpeffer to Ullapool and on to Durness, offering both cyclists and the public some beautiful views and scenery.

Transport Scotland Concessionary Cards accepted on this service.

Bikes should be booked 24 hours in advance to guarantee space.

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Bus and Bike Loyalty Scheme to get a free swim

Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Complex at Walton-on-Thames is encouraging people to reduce their carbon footprint by cycling or taking the bus to Xcel! Every time you travel to the Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Complex on the 564 bus or by bike, show your bus ticket or a proof that you have cycled in to reception and you will receive a stamp on your loyalty card. Once you have completed your card simply hand it back to reception and receive either a free more card or a free swim.

Elmbridge

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The European Bike Express

The commercial company European Bike Express, which started in 1993, offers a guaranteed means of safely transporting your bike to France by bus.

European Bike Express

The Bike Express bus pulls a specially designed bike trailer to accommodate bikes of all shapes and sizes, along with all your cycling kit, including panniers and trailers. The service offers two main European routes: an Atlantic Coast route that links Calais to the Pyrenees via Orléans, Tours, Poitiers, Saintes, Bordeaux, Bayonne and Lourdes, before returning north viaToulouse and Agen; and a Mediterranean route that takes in the Alps (Nancy, Lyon and Grenoble) and the Med (Montpellier,Narbonne and Perpignan) before crossing into northern Spain.

Bike bus1

Pick-up and drop-off points in both the UK and France are outlined on the website, where it is also possible to make reservations.

More information

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Bike On Bus – examples from the USA

Valley Metro – front loaded bikes on a bus

Valley Metro provides public transportation alternatives for the Greater Phoenix Metro Area in the USA. All Valley Metro buses are equipped with bike racks on the front of the bus. You can ride your bike to the nearest bus stop or Park-and-Ride location with racks being available are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. So if the bike rack is full, you will need to wait for the next bus.

valley metro

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Metro Transit – Bike-n-Ride by Bus and Train

Metro Transit in the Minneapolis area USA offer a bike-n-ride service on both buses and trains.

Front-loaded bikes on a bus
Front-loaded bikes on a bus
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bike into a rack on a commuter train

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My Bus Trip app – Real time bus information

mybustrip

The “My Bus Trip” app provides passengers with free direct access to real time bus information via their mobile phones and includes:

  • real time bus location – displays a map with bus stops and shows real time locations of buses
  • real time route map – displays service routes on the map
  • nearby stops and services – gives access to bus stop and service information related to a location. The location is either set automatically (detected by GPS) or specified on the map by a Drop Pin
  • bus operator – displays the operator name, service and destination for the selected bus
  • detailed journey information – provides full information about a journey including where the service stops, the distance of stops from your current location, bus due time, predicted departure time and scheduled departure time.
CCC timetable map
An example of the web-based Interactive map from Cambridgeshire County Council

Covering the Cambridgeshire area the app is available for the Android, iphone. ipad and the ipod as well as on the web.

More details and download the app.

Surprisingly, it does not appear to be promoted by Cambridgeshire County Council.

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Interactive Map on Car availability by ward using Census 2011 England and Wales

A useful interactive map that merges of car availability by ward and the Census 2011 England and Wales Electoral Wards using Google Fusion Tables. Could be used as a tool for identifying rural areas with low car availability – thus he need for more rural public transport services. Obviously other factors like density of population needs to be considered.

no car

Access the Interactive map

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London’s self-service, bike-sharing scheme

London’s self-service, bike-sharing scheme, forms part of Transport for London’s integrated public transportation network.

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They are officially now known as Santander Cycles as they are sponsored by the Santander Bank. But, they are more commonly known as “Boris Bikes” after the Major of London – Boris Johnson – after Boris Johnson, who was the Mayor of London when the scheme was launched.

santander-hire

santander.ride

santander-return

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Brompton Bikes taken on trains and buses

Brompton Bike Hire was created to address the clear need for a cycle hire scheme that is accessible to all, easy and cheap to install and run, economical to use, not dependent on state subsidies, flexible and compact.

Brompton Bike

The Brompton folding bike can be taken to work or home, you can even take it on trains, buses and the overground at peak times.

Bikes can be booked online and are stored in a “Dock” for collection at various locations.

dock

More details

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