The MTA will start mounting bike racks on the front of city buses for the first time in a new pilot program, the ageny said Monday.
The racks will be on two bus routes that run between Staten Island and Brooklyn, the S53 and S93. Three different types of racks which can be tested, and each can fit up to two bikes.
The racks have a mechanism that secures the bike while the bus is moving, but riders need to load and unload their own bikes.
Bikes cannot cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, just cars.
“These bus routes over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge will provide a key connection for cyclists between Brooklyn and Staten Island,” said Polly Trottenberg, the Department of Transportation Commissioner and an MTA board member.
The MTA said the program will help students at the College of Staten Island commute with their bikes. It will be studying the pilot’s impact on bus safety, operations, costs and training.
“Before this program, our custmers had no direct way to travel with their bicycles on public transportation between Brooklyn and Staten Island,” said MTA Bus president Darryl Irck in a statement.
“A future expansion will depend on results of this pilot and will most likely focus on routes that cross bridges.”
Bikes are not permitted inside buses, but they can be brought on the subway if cyclists don’t block doors.
