Bikes on buses? T racked by deficits

Perched on her bicycle at Ruggles Street, Anne McKinnon, 44, of Jamaica Plain, observes MBTA buses emerge from their garage during her daily commute to work. Some of the buses on three cross-town routes, she's noticed, lack bike racks, which have been touted by the T as available ''to be used at all times" since 2000.

The T says that the temporary absence of racks owes to bus maintenance, and further, that it plans to outfit 250 more buses with bike racks this spring, with the possibility of adding more in the future. But McKinnon, like other cyclists, says she doubts the commitment to the expansion.

''The T patted themselves on the back in 2000, but then I noticed the racks were disappearing," said McKinnon, a city planner by day and co-founder of the Back Bay Midnight Pedalers by night. ''It shows zero commitment to bikes on buses, and I hardly believe the MBTA is serious about equipping new buses with racks when they cannot even keep the ones they have."

Inconsistent transportation for the tens of thousands of Greater Boston bicyclists presents an inconvenience that seems out of step with other major cities. In New York City, for example, bicycles are allowed on all of the system's subway lines. In Boston, bikes are prohibited during the morning inbound and evening outbound commutes on all the subway lines, and prohibited entirely on the Green Line, according to the MBTA website.

The cross-town fleet, which accounts for about 2 percent of all MBTA buses, is currently the only bus carrier offering bike racks.

Dorie Clark, the executive director of the Massachusetts Bike Coalition, said studies in other communities show that once 50-60 percent of buses are equipped with racks, people believe they can count on their reliability -- and use them.

''Once nearly 100 percent are equipped," said Clark, ''the usage rates skyrocket. MassBike very much wants the MBTA to equip all buses with racks."

In a walking city that could double as a biking city, more transit options for cyclists not only makes commuting easier, but also reduces exhaust emissions. That seems appropriate, considering where the funding for the project comes from.

According to Clark, the T secured $250,000 in federal money for the bike racks under a pollution control program. But McKinnon still worries that the Charlestown garage buses -- the recipients of the new racks -- will suffer the same fate as those in the cross-town shelter.

''This is a larger question about a commitment throughout the MBTA, from the planners down to the maintenance," she said.

According to the T, bus maintenance is the reason for the missing racks. Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said servicing the buses accounts for the ''temporary" absence of racks. He apologized for the inconvenience to bicyclists who rely on them.

''We have some instances of midlife overhauls where we have to take the [cross-town] buses out of route, and replace them with buses that don't have racks," he said.

John Gnassi, a physician who rides the cross-town bus as part of his commute to work, has been stranded at Sullivan Station on several occasions when buses without the promised racks refuse to accommodate his bike.

''It happens now on more occasions than not," he said. ''The whole system really falls apart and discourages use when they don't provide the services they advertise."

Now, Gnassi sometimes travels a segment of his commute on his Razor, ''the little, foldable scooter I can carry on the T in a bag."

In a September news release, the T said it ''will closely monitor the bike rack program, and then make recommendations on whether to expand the program to other bus garages and routes."