bike rack

Starting Saturday, April 25th, 2009, all GO Transit buses will be equipped with racks that can carry two bicycles. This means that you can take your bike with you on any GO bus at any time of day, without any additional cost.

Bike racks were first installed on GO buses in August 2008, starting with buses serving the QEW Express (Union to Hamilton) corridor and the Hamilton to Aldershot corridor. It's great to see that this project has been expanded to the whole system!

I've had the opportunity to use the GO bike racks several times now when traveling between Toronto and Hamilton. It's honestly a little bit nerve-wracking when you first put your bike on the front of a bus that's about to hurtle down the QEW at 100km/h, but the system works well and I'm confident enough to keep using it.

I'm looking forward to many other opportunities to use this. It doesn't help me much on my own commute (Dundas West station to Square One), but I have already been scheming to try other trips. Everything from getting around the GTA faster/easier, to using the GO system as a launch pad for weekend bike tours:

• Take the GO bus downtown after work for events if I don't have the time to cycle
• Save time and local transit fare by riding to and from GO stations

At a press conference this morning in Hamilton, GO Transit announced that they will be adding bicycle racks to the front of inter-city GO buses, as well as allowing cyclists to bring folding bikes on rush-hour trains!

According to GO's updated bicycle page, the bike racks will be added to GO buses on the QEW Express service between Hamilton and Union Station, and the Hamilton to Aldershot Station bus connection. This service will be available starting August 1st, and will expand to other routes over the next 12 months. The new bike racks hold two bikes per bus.

In the past, the difficulty with adding bicycle racks to the front of GO buses comes from a law that prohibits any kind of equipment from being attached to the front of inter-city buses. GO Transit had to work with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and all of the municipalities that their buses pass through to get this approved.

For more information about the bike racks on buses, check the GO bike by bus brochure.

Also, starting June 30th, there will be a pilot project allowing customers to take their folding bike on the GO Trains, even during rush hour. Please check their Folding Bike Etiquette guide too.

Personally, I think this is excellent news! Multi-modal commuting and travel around the GTA will be so much easier. Of course, there are still some limitations on the types of bikes you can bring on the various GO services, but this is still a huge step in the right direction. I'm looking forward to using both of these new GO/bike travel options.