Rack ’n’ roll

In a bunch of other North American cities, cyclists can pop their bikes onto special racks in the front of buses and then pop them off when they reach their destination. Starting June 10, we’ll be able to do exactly that—provided we’re going to Terrebonne. Twenty-eight handy-dandy racks that cost $800 each and carry two bikes per bus will be bolted onto buses next week, allowing riders, at no extra cost, to bring their bikes with them.
The racks, coming off in November and reappearing in April, are courtesy of the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), which is fronting the $50,000 cost of the two-year project, while the CIT des Moulins bus company is supplying the $3.25, 30-minute trips from the Henri-Bourrassa metro to Terrebonne on routes 19A and 25A. That semi-bucolic municipality claims such attractive bike paths as the Tour de Terrebonne, a 13.5-kilometre ride through leafy, bird-filled woods. Other than for a brief period in the ’80s, when certain South Shore buses contained racks that allowed bikes to be transported over the river, local transit corporations have long denied persistent requests that such racks be attached to more buses.

AMT rep Manon Goudreault says it’s unlikely that the bike racks will become universal on Montreal buses. “When we put on the racks it makes the buses longer and they no longer fit inside some terminuses. You’d have to change the whole building.” :

—Kristian Gravenor