NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) issued a statement in October last year noting that for some buses, the bicycles they carried on front-fitted bike racks could partially obscure the bus’ headlights at night — and the visibility issues this created made the vehicles non-compliant with road rules.
A nationwide safety notice for all buses with front-fitted bike racks was issued, and on October 30 the Otago Regional Council said it would follow the NZTA directive despite not encountering "any issues" before.
About a week later the council said it was extending the ban to daytime hours, too.
The council said yesterday it received "large volumes of complaints" at the outset, and they were still trickling in, with four received over the past fortnight.
Yesterday, the NZTA said daytime use of the bike racks could be reinstated next month.
Avid cyclist Dave McLean, of Broad Bay, said he never really understood how the "absurd situation" came to be, and the bus drivers he spoke to were just as puzzled as he was.
"Nobody really seems to know."
Before the ban the retiree would catch the No 18 bus into town and get off in Portsmouth Dr, at the Midland St stop, where he was "in the easy range of anywhere that I want to go".
He had also used buses to go further into the city, where he could change buses and go on recreational rides that took him out to Mosgiel, from where he could catch a return bus home.
His neighbour in Broad Bay, Jennifer Cattermole, used to take the bus one way on her 36km round trip commute into the city each day.
She too found the ban on using bike racks hard to understand.
"Especially over summer — long, sunny, clear days, perfect visibility — it just made no sense to me whatsoever why the bike rack ban was in place over that period."
She became so frustrated with the "lack of clarity in the communication" she filed an official information request to try to find out when the ban would end — and could not find an answer.
"It just feels like it's been dragging on for a little bit too long by this point."
Otago regional councillor Elliot Weir said council staff had been working "incredibly hard" and had made real progress on the issue.
The bike racks had been used without issue for years, so it was "exasperating" that there was no clear process in place to deal with the issue when it arose.
Now, racks had been unusable all summer, when the demand was highest for them, "and our communities have suffered from it".
"I can't help but feel like Kafka has been writing the plot in recent years.
"It's absurd to spend so much time, money, and effort just to get to where we were six months ago."
Council transport manager Lorraine Cheyne said council staff understood people’s frustration.
The council had been working with bus operators to ensure they had assessed their fleets, and to support them when needed with the light installations required for compliance.
About 60% of the fleet required auxiliary lamps to be fitted, she said.
As of last week, both the council’s operators, across Dunedin and Queenstown, were in a position to make exemption requests to NZTA for all fleet vehicles.
"We understand there is a turnaround time of approximately one month for NZTA to process the exemptions.
"Once granted, and with all necessary adjustments to lights in place, the bike racks will be able to come back in use."
An NZTA spokeswoman said the agency was working through a class exemption applied for by Environment Canterbury to allow bike racks to be used during daytimes only, for nine months.
"This will give public transport operators time to check their fleet for compliance, make improvements, and apply for individual exemptions that will allow a return to 24/7 bikes on buses service.
"NZTA is currently seeking feedback from industry on the draft class exemption notice.
"We anticipate this will be able to come into effect early April."
