Published by Lyn on 17 March 2011
Will a campaign to boost journeys by bus one day allow cyclists to travel from the UK to France by coach?
A campaign launched late last year by the UK's leading bus and coach operators aims to encourage more people to catch buses. Greener Journeys is billed as an environmental campaign aimed at reducing carbon emissions (nothing, I'm sure, to do with boosting bus operator profits...)
Buses in a number of North American cities now routinely carry bikes. This one is pictured in Cincinnati. Photo: Metro Cincinnati
The campaign is largely focused on local commuters – encouraging more people to take their local bus rather than the car (a concept that has striking similarities to Bike2Work, Bike For All, and other campaigns to get people cycling short journeys rather than taking the car).
However is does also have the backing of National Express, the UK's long-distance coach operator which operates Eurolines services out of the UK and into France and Continental Europe.
Now, with the exception of those wanting to go somewhere on the excellent European Bike Express routes, any cyclist wanting to take their non-foldable bike from the UK to France (or on many other on Continental routes, for that matter) is customarily excluded from coach travel. This seems more than a little bit silly. While I understand buses have limited luggage capacity, surely not all routes are always fully booked and some space could be reserved for bikes (bagged/boxed or otherwise) on a first-come, first serve basis. Secondly, most cyclists wouldn't object to paying a surcharge/excess baggage fee to get their bike to France if the bus was in any case the cheapest or most flexible option (Eurostar and some airlines, after all, charge extra for bikes). I daresay the bus would be a popular option for cyclists needing to get to/from ferry ports on either side of the Channel.
This all prompted me to contact Greener Journeys to enquire whether this new push might also lead coach companies to consider encouraging the use of integrated transport, particularly where bikes are concerned.
"With this new campaign to encourage more bus use," I asked, "are there any plans to be more flexible with cycle carriage policy to allow people the option of using integrated bus/cycle transport?"
Alas my emails to the otherwise inviting Greener Journeys website have been met with silence. I'll let you know if I ever hear back.
These same questions apply to local bus operators in France, as well as to other operators with routes into the country. I'd like to hear from anyone who has successfully taken bikes (non-folders) on buses to or within France, or elsewhere in the world.
