Ever taken a bike on a bus?

[telstarbox]

Usually you can't - but have you ever got away with it? (For the purposes of the thread, as a fare paying passenger on a vehicle in public service).

[Pickled Onion]

It depends where you are, it's standard practice in many places. Especially places where there's limited rail or where bikes are prohibited on trains.

So yes, a several of times, but not in the UK.

[telstarbox]

Sorry, I should have specified on your typical Stagecoach / Arriva wagon. I'm sure in Cluj or Crete the rules are relaxed...

[Veloman]

Quite often take the Brompton on the bus as a fare passenger on public transport.

[robgul]

Yes - Haverfordwest to St David's on the ordinary double-decker (IIRC) bus - in the wheelchair space [Priority is given to wheelchairs but the driver/conductor seemed pretty relaxed about everything] - we had 2 loaded touring bikes.

Rob

[LEE]

No..because I have a bike

[Kim]

No..because I have a bike

This.

Which isn't to say I wouldn't take my Brommie on a bus when faced with an inconvenient mechanical or something, but as a general rule, riding a bike is nearly always preferable than travelling by bus.

[αdαmsκι]

Oxford Tube bus (London > Oxford) allows bikes. Useful when bailing on overnight Oxford to London bike ride.

Pippa managed to blag our bikes onto a rail replacement bus in New South Wales, Australia. (We were trying to avoided a small section of dodgy highway.)

Bus Éireann in Ireland allowed people to take bikes when I used them 15 years ago.

[matthew]

Once, two families (father, mother, 11 yo & 10 yo + father, 10 yo & 9 yo) touring when the intercity train was replaced by a bus between winchester and Salisbury. One father rode his tandem solo, the other father rode while the mother escorted the kids plus 4 bikes on the bus.

It did take some assertiveness from the adults to get us on board the bus.

[bobb]

Never tried on a regular service bus, but a few times on rail replacemnet buses. Just sling the bike in the hold underneath - the drivers have never had a problem with it. Not to say of course that's guaranteed, just my experience of unexpected buses* replacing trains.....

*Yes, I know I should have checked first, but I can be a bit lazy sometimes

Edit: I guess I've also been lucky to have a modern style coach with a hold rather than an old skool bus which you often get in situations of such inconveniences...

[Snakehips]

I once bought an exercise bike and had it delivered to the office (for personal reasons). The last stage of its eventual journey home was by bus. The driver didn't look too happy about it , neither did my fellow passengers who had to walk round it, but given the brooding malevolence that I exuded in those days nobody challenged me about it.
 

[fuaran]

I've taken my bike on Citylink coaches a few times. It just goes in the luggage hold.
They say it should be in a bag/box, but you can probably get away without if its not too busy. Or a CTC plastic bag should be OK.

[Luke]

I once managed to get my mountain bike on a local bus in Nottingham.

It was raining quite heavily and I'd just punctured my rear tyre, and happened to be right next to the stop for the hourly service to Newark, which also happened to be approaching the stop.

Got to be worth a try I thought.

And it was! 

[benborp]

Red London bus. Soft bike bag with the front wheel removed. No questions asked. Considerably easier than the Paris metro (but that has everything to do with Parisians and nothing to do with bikes).

[mcshroom]

Twice. Once from Durness to Ullapool (that train has a bike trailer), and ince on a rail replacement service from Ft William to Glasgow. Both times this was with a touring bike and camping gear.

[L CC]

Taken a tandem on a bus replacement service. Twice.

Not on a standard bus though. I would've taken the tandem on the train so the TOC had a bit of a responsibility to offer the same service.

[Bairn Again]

No.  But a couple of weeks ago I saw a guy with a bike inside an Edinburgh / Lothian Buses double decker around 0830 on a weekday  Theres a dedicated disabled space as well as a buggy area so there was plenty room for it (a woman with a buggy was on the bus too).  However in the 30 or so years Ive lived in Edinburgh Ive never seen this. 

[bikepacker]

I helped a guy put a bike on a bus in Strabane for a journey to Derry, the bus driver just pointed to a space with fold up seats. I met him on the Castlederg to Strabane road, he was unwell and struggling so I stayed with him to the bus stop. When I got to Derry he was waiting by the Peace Bridge.

[Kim]

Taken a tandem on a bus replacement service. Twice.

IIRC you also had a trailer at least one of those times.  The stuff of legends.

[aidan.f]

Trike (upright)  - Bellingham - Hexham. - The bus  had a  bike rack which it  was obv. not  going to fit onto. The driver was fine about it going in the wheelchair bay . Last Saturday bus about 17:00 IIRC I think there was one other  passenger.

[Wowbagger]

We got our tandem on the bus rom Tobermory to Craignure after I had wrecked my knee falling down a flight of stairs, and also from Oban to Fort William. The first driver was a bit doubtful about it, but he could see I was on crutches and relented. The second one had been briefed in advance - the bus company's office was across the road and I'd cleared it with them first - and he put it in the hold for us. I doubt we would have managed that without S & S couplings.

[mattc]

We got our tandem on the bus rom Tobermory to Craignure after I had wrecked my knee falling down a flight of stairs, and also from Oban to Fort William. The first driver was a bit doubtful about it, but he could see I was on crutches and relented.

< Amends essential touring kit list >

[DuncanM]

I used to commute every day by putting my fixie in the hold of the X90 Oxford -> London bus. They would generally accept 2 bikes assuming there weren't too may suitcases in there. It could be a real pain if you you were at Baker St on the way home and people had already got 2 bikes on board at prior stops.
The Oxford Tube has some strange way of storing bikes vertically in a locker behind the stairs, (double decker coach) but I've not used that with a bike.

[Palinurus]

Probably nearly 30 years ago I did, I got a flat not far from work and asked if I could take my bike on the bus- driver refused because it was busy but suggested the next bus would be quieter. It was, and I was allowed on.

Not sure if I carried repair stuff in those days, wouldn't surprise me if I didn't though.

[Martin]

only a rail replacement bus in the UK; the driver was OK about it but insisted that the other passengers all sat upstairs (while I was allowed to stay downstairs with the bike which was secured anyway)

and in Tenerife after an aborted ride 70k back to the start (bike went in the luggage hold; driver now on my Christmas card list!)