Disabled man prevented from getting on Cambridge bus with folding bike

This has got to be one of the biggest bugbears for getting people out of their cars (after road safety of course) - joined up transport policies.

Such a thing was at least possible (although didn't happen) when the buses and trains were owned by the government - but now that they're privatised the only way to ensure some form of provision is by regulation - which of course would start an outcry from the companies involved.

I've frequently been impressed by the buses in some areas of the US which have external bike racks fitted - though god knows how they got round the safety nannies.

I was on a Stagecoach Oxford bus recently and a gentleman tried to board the bus with a full sized bike (not that it matters but it was an old Dawes hybrid). He'd got a flat, all the bike shops were closed and he had no way of getting the bike home.

The driver refused to let him on board with the bike and eventually the Cyclist demanded that the driver contact a supervisor for a decision. The response was exactly what we wanted to hear: "If there's room on the bus and it can be placed securely in the pushchair bay then we don't have a problem with it". The driver was not happy.

Strangely enough we have a large number of commuters who carry Bromptons on Stagecoach Oxford buses and I've never seen a driver that has a problem with it.

Idiots... the lot of them.
Imagine if your folding bicycle were perhaps a folding push-chair for a toddler, which incidentally take up MORE space in the luggage racks.

Are they required to put those in bags?

Imagine the uproar if they were!

I once asked Brighton & Hove buses what their view would be if I wanted to take a folding bike on the bus.

They said that as long as it was folded and could fit in the luggage compartment without falling or obstructing other people from using it then no problems.

So I told my friend and the first time he tried to do it the driver wouldn't let him on

one of the biggest deterrents to cyclists cycling more is the confusing, varied and unclear rules for mass transport carriage of cycles if you get tired, fall ill or have an unrepairable-at-roadside problem.

"It's more than my job's worth..."

Sadly dimwits of this sort seem to exist in all walks of life and all over the world. They are often small-minded, unintelligent idiots with an inferiority complex, which is why they seem to enjoy using the miniscule power they have to humiliate or embarass normal people.

Sounds like the oh so typical abuse of power I see weekly on my commute into work via train. These people are shit munchers doing typical mindless shit muncher jobs who get their kicks by hassling those who they consider to be a "lesser" being.

Last week, I saw a ticket inspector literally run through a packed station after a woman to check her ticket, which she had JUST used to proceed through the ticket barriers that were in place at the station, I've also heard stories of ticket inspectors throwing my friends off of empty trains because their pre-booked ticket was for the train an hour later than the one they were on, despite the fact there were plenty of seats available. A couple of weeks ago I was sat on my bike rolling it along at walking pace, not even pedalling, and when I was about a metre away from the exit, despite the closest person to me being half way up the overpass-bridge, I was asked to get off my bike, to which I replied "I'm just about to leave" and carried on my way. I can't be bothered to follow the rules which are set such as "no cycling on the platform" (which leads directly to a cycle path) when common sense prevails.

This is pretty close to the definition of "prick", isn't it? What a shower.