Stagecoach buses, UK

[mark williamson]

Hi,

Anyone had experience with Stagecoach buses in the UK?

I tried to catch a bus to unihoc practice this evening but was turned away from the bus driver on the grounds that:

a) I had a "bike"
b) "the law" says that I have to have the "bike" packaged up and with the pedals removed, or I'm not allowed to take it on the bus.

I offered to take the pedals off then and there and put the uni in my bag, but he still didn't find that acceptable.

I took the seat off and shoved the seatpost through the wheel to make it look a bit more "disassembled" then took it straight on the next bus (and another bus after that) with no problems. All of these were the same bus company.

Given my freestyle uni takes up less space than most people's weekly shopping, this seemed a bit much to me. I'm 99% sure that "the law" he quoted doesn't exist, whether it's company policy is another matter - neither their website nor the notices in the bus state anything regarding carrying cycles of any kind.

Any experiences? Any suggestions? Just fancy a rant?

Let it all out!

Cheers,
Mark

[Blegas78]

you should look under your laws for the definition of a "bicycle." I'm not sure about UK, but I know that in California and Arizona a regular unicycle is clearly not in the definition of a bicycle under law. If the same holds true for you, then you should bring it up next time you try to take it on and cite the exact definition.

[ntappin]

My guess is you just had a run in with a poor bus driver. I have had one similar incident. It was during rushour and I was told you aren't aloud "those" on the bus. I noticed that the same bus was right behind him so I just left and got on the one behind him.

[joemarshall]

I've been told on buses that I can't take a shelf (flat packed) on.

And a different one that I couldn't take a tin of paint on.

It's just a grumpy driver. There's no fixed policy and no law. If the driver is grumpy they'll not let anything random on.

Almost all buses won't carry bikes, that's why a quick release is good, cos you can make it into a wheel rather than a bike before you go on buses. It's not worth arguing etymology with the driver, as when it comes down to it they can not let on people for having inconvenient luggage anyway.

in Notts I've taken unicycles on buses loads, sometimes packed in a bag, sometimes not.

For something as small as a freestyle uni, just take a bin bag or similar with you, you can put the wheel in that, undo your quick release, and then you suddenly have something that isn't a unicycle, and certainly isn't a bike, that you can take on any old public transport with no problems.

Joe

[semach.the.monkey]

Well, as others have said, there is no "law" to say that you can't take a unicycle on a bus. But, sadly, it can come down to the drivers discression who or what he lets on. It does sound like you just got a bad driver today.

I've never actually been stopped from using a bus, coach, train or underground. However, I've had one bus and one coach driver try to stop me. The coach driver said "Wait, you can't take that on here" to which I feigned shock and pointed out that I've been carrying it on coaches regularly for months. Begrudgingly he let me on, but it was touch and go for bit. The bus driver, on the other hand actually said "Hold on mate, are you allowed to bring that on here?" Well, as if I'm going to say No to that!

Both of those were with the 29er. I've a feeling I might get a bit more agro with the new 36 though :-(

STM

[Borgschulze]

I had one bus driver give me some iffy remark.

To which I immediately looked back in the bus to point out a baby stroller taking up five times as much room as my unicycle takes up.

[Lucas1wheel]

I catch stagecoach everyday to college, most of the time there w*****s but when it comes to taking my unicycle ive done it like 4 times and theyve even given me a decent place to put it.

but ive been turned down before

[annaats]

the drivers seem to be the ones who make the laws up, i had a grumpy national express driver who didnt want to take the unicycles, he even rang head office to let us know that we werent supposed to without a bag or something, they were more lenient than him, and he gave in once we had taken the pedals off and told him we accept all responsibilty for damage. with buses ive been fine so far, the unilink buses round here let you take bikes, so theyre fine with unis, and the drivers always make nice comments about it, even when the buses are jam packed, i dont think the other companies have much of a problem either, unless theres a nasty driver i suppose. maybe if you write and complain the driver could eb told to be nicer, but then again, it might make them tell everyone to be stricter and not let unis on!