"Jay Honeck" wrote

Iowa City spent a hundred thousand dollars (or more) installing
"bicycle lifts" on the front of all city buses. These contraptions
allow the bus driver to stop, get out, and "easily" load a bicycle
onto a rack mounted on the front of the bus.

We have bike racks on all of our buses here in the Tampa Bay Area.
I use them frequently, and despite the Mercedes Diesel parked in my
carport, I consider my bicycle my main means of transportation
within Tarpon Springs and Pinellas County. We also pulled-up the
old railroad tracks and paved a bike-jog path for the entire 34 mile
length of the county. On my 68th birthday, I biked both directions
(68 miles)in 6 hours. Our bus drivers never touch the bikes, one
must view a 10-15 minute training video, pay for a photo ID card, and
display it to the bus driver each time that the bike rack is used.

As most of us knew all along, they (like the buses) are rarely used --
thankfully. Each time they ARE used, the bus -- which, of course,
must stop at curbside, blocking the traffic lane -- sits for up to 5
minutes while the poor driver wrestles the bike onto the rack.

Our bikes racks are so heavily used that the county is in the process
of upgrading the 2-bike racks to 3-bike racks. It takes this old man
only about 15 seconds to load and unload my bike from the rack while
the other passengers are boarding.

What comments do you have about the mandatory wheelchair lifts that we
also have on all of our busses? Using them does require driver
assistance and probably about 5 minutes per use. I don't think that
any one of those wheelchair users ever thought that one day they would
be in that position. I think that it is admiralable that the citizens
of Pinellas County have chosen to help these citizens remain independant
in their transportation needs.

But, of course, we're the idiots for letting them control the
agenda...

And I thank you very much! :-) I have found that as I age, I become
much more considerate and understanding of the needs of others.

Bob Moore