[Foreword 8th June 2015: We have now had the result from the DVSA, and it’s not good.]

It is with rather a lot of excitement that Peter from BikesOnBuses emailed me to say that he delivered a Veloporter 2 to the Bristol First Group depot on Wednesday. The rack will be installed on a bus they are currently servicing and respraying with new livery. The process is expected to take two to three weeks, but at the end of it, there will be a shiny bus with a cycle rack on the front of it.

There are other councils that are also pushing for cycle racks on the front of buses but a lot of eyes are on us as we seem to be the most advanced in the process.

HOWEVER we still have a looooong way to go with the biggest hurdle to come. Once the rack is installed, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will be asked to inspect and sign off the use of these racks. The DVSA has the power to kill this dead. So although this is an exciting moment in this rather long running process (1+ years), this is probably the absolute critical point in this process.

If the DVSA says yes, then BaNES have ring fenced £15,000 for a trial to start in Bath. Having the ability to easily get bikes up the hills of Bath really is needed to persuade people to leave their car at home.

What should be interesting, no matter what, at some point in the next month there will briefly be bus on UK roads with a cycle rack on the front of it.

Exciting times 🙂

Any councils/press that wish to know more about what we are doing or be invited to see the rack in action, please feel free to email me at awjreynolds @ gmail.com

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