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As the sun pulled itself out from behind the hills, Wes Nickerman, 18, pulled his body out of bed to catch the 7:15 a.m. northbound bus. He left his house, hopped on his bike and pedaled to the bus stop to catch the bus for his first day as an HSU college student.
Nickerman, an environmental resource engineering freshman, waited at the stop with all the excitement that is usually associated with young men beginning the next phase of their life. But when the bus pulled over, and he attempted to get on with his bike, he found there was no room available on the Redwood Transit Authority bus. "[On] the first day of class I couldn't get on, because morning buses are packed," says Nickerman. The bus drove off leaving a trail of smoke, and a determined Nickerman set off to bike the dangerous Highway 101 corridor to get to his first day of classes at HSU.
Nickerman says he no longer tries to take his bike on the bus in the morning.
"Most of the time I just leave it at school," he says.
Even though gas prices recently fell, they are still relatively high. This provides the need for many in Humboldt County to look at alternative modes of transportation, especially students who are on a tight budget.
Operation Manager for Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) Greg Pratt says ridership for the first month of this school year is at 58,000 rides. Compared to 41,000 for the first month of 2007, this is an addition of 17,000 rides and a 41 percent increase in the span of one year.
Since Humboldt County is a rural area with a sparse population and two main cities, many of those people are combining two forms of transport - bikes and buses. But at the peak riding times of 7-9:00 a.m., and 4-6:00 p.m., there is sometimes not enough room to include riders and their bikes.
Pratt admits riders with bikes sometimes get left behind during the peak riding hours.
"Yea. A small percentage, but sometimes it happens," he says.
Larry Anderson has been a bus driver for 18 years out of his 30-plus years working in the transportation department. While driving on his afternoon route, Anderson says he has left a few bike riders behind, due to the beginning of school and a packed bus.
'It's a hassle, but we accommodate people," says Anderson. Grinning, he says his motto for allowing bikes on the bus: "I say whip it on and hold on."
Undeclared freshman Lauren Davis, 18, lives in McKinleyville and owns a car. She rides the Redwood Transit Line to save money on gas.
Davis recently started leaving her car at home and riding her bike to the bus stop to conserve more fuel. "I use to drive my car and park at the bus stop," she says. "Now I ride my bike to save more on gas." Since Oct. 7, her first time on the bus with her bike, Davis hasn't been left behind.
Like Davis, Eureka resident and HSU student Erin Cearley, 30, also rides her bike to the bus stop and then hitches a ride to get to HSU. Cearley takes her bike on the bus five days a week, and never has problems catching a ride.
Most riders who were talked to did not have serious problems catching a ride, and although both Anderson and Pratt acknowledge that sometimes people get left behind, they explain that this rarely happens.
But as more people break free from the grip of oil, the more crowded buses will be.
Currently, HTA busses have room for three bikes on the bike racks installed at the front of the bus. Pratt explains that you can also fit up to six bikes on the bus, for a total of nine riders with bikes per bus. But the number of bikes allowed on the bus depends on the amount of riders currently on the bus.
HTA buses use to have racks on the back, but Pratt says they pose a danger to any car behind them. If riders don't secure their bikes they could fall off and hit a car. They also make injuries more likely in a rear-end collision.
One solution to alleviate the frustrations of bikes on the bus and riders getting left behind is to install bike lockers at high-volume bus stops, which resemble tall and wide high school lockers.
Another option is to provide a well-lit and adequate area to lock bikes at the bus stops.
Pratt says the HTA is looking into this as an option. "It just depends on how much money we get," says Pratt.
At the end of the month, Pratt will know how much money his department will have. If he gets enough the HTA plans on surveying data and doing trial runs with the bike lockers.
"State transit funds are most susceptible to budget cuts." But Pratt is open to all ideas.
"We'll take any suggestions we can get."
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