Thanks to the Melon City Bike Club, MuscaBus riders will soon have a way to combine riding their bikes and riding the bus.A
$900 bike rack donated by the bike club has been installed on Bus #242,
the Blue route that goes east on the hour and south on the half-hour,
according to Kristy Korpi, the city’s transit supervisor.
That bus
will be parked outside the city’s public works building, 1459
Washington Ave., Monday through Friday next week from 8 a.m. through 5
p.m. so that people can check out the new equipment and even practice
how to use it. Call Korpi at 563-263-8152 to schedule an appointment. A
video on how to use the new bike rack is on the city’s website,
http://muscatineiowa.gov/index.aspx?NID=75.
The bike rack holds up to two bikes. Using the bike rack is free with a 75-cent MuscaBus fare or a monthly flash pass.
Once
the new bike rack is in operation after Monday, Aug. 19, Korpi
recommends calling ahead to make sure that Bus #242 is in service that
day.
“It ties in with the Blue Zones and with bikeability
throughout the town,” said Dave Cooney of Muscatine, a member of the
Melon City Bike Club. “Things are getting better” for bicyclists all
over town, he said, “although there are still some hurdles to get over.
We’re not Portland, Oregon, yet, but we are making some headway.”
Cooney described the bike rack as simple and user-friendly. “It’s a very quick release and a secure system,” he said.
There
are a few rules about using the bike rack, rules that are posted on the
city’s website. Among them: no tandem bikes, bikes with motors or solid
wheels, and bikes with child seats can be placed on the bike rack.
Cooney
said he envisions different kinds of bike-riders using the new bike
racks. Someone who pedaled to to work in the morning may not want to go
home on the bicycle in a thunderstorm. Grocery shoppers might cycle to
the store and the MuscaBus home, owing to all the groceries they’d
otherwise have to tote home on the bicycle.
“It’s another way,” he said, “to use your bicycle around town.”