Here is the letter that Simon Geller wrote.

Please carry bikes on trams at off-peak times

With petrol prices on the increase, people would like to be able to walk, cycle and use the tram and the bus more. However, in a hilly city like Sheffield, they need a helping hand sometimes. We know that Supertram services are often busy, but there are also times when they are quiet - Sundays on the Blue Route for example. There is no bike-carrying public transport to the east of the city on Sunday and that means that people without a car are effectively prevented from going cycling in Rother Valley and on the Trans-Pennine Trail, for example. Also a massive investment is going into providing a safe walking and cycling route from Killamarsh to Halfway tram terminus, but people will be unable to use their bikes when they get off at the other end of their journey.

I would like Supertram to try out carrying bikes at off-peak times and if there are no serious problems make this a permanent
facility. Any practical problems surrounding this can be solved by a few simple measures, as has been shown in other countries with light rail systems.

A report by highly respected consultants TTK (Karlsruhe) noted that Croydon's system, very similar to Sheffield should allow cycle carriage outside peak hours and the excellent US report Bikes with Transit lists many of the systems carrying cycles with non of the perceived issues that are rolled out as reasons for not carrying cycles. Back in 1898 the tram operators in San Francisco saw cyclists as valued customers who could travel further to catch the tram than pedestrians, and positively promoted the combination of bike and tram

I'd also press that Supertram and all other systems in the UK carry cycles used by people with a mobility need that is fulfilled by the cycle. Sheffield has a great centre for disability cycling at Hillsborough Park, served by the tram, and a number of the disabled cyclists could get there without the major effort and costs of arranging for drivers and vehicles to collect them.

Hi Simon,

That looks like a request from Supertram that you take your correspondence offline. When this happens, we advise people to reply (via the yellow 'email' button at the top of this page) and say that FixMyTransport is your preferred means of contact.

That way all correspondence is kept on this page for others to see, and as you know, Supertram's replies do also go directly into your email inbox. It may be worth letting them know that they are replying to 7 supporters as well as to you, all of whom are keen to see the answer.

If you'd prefer to do as they request and take the conversation offline, please do come back and update us on any progress. I'm keen to follow this one and I'm sure others will be too.

Hello Simon

Have you made any progress with your query to Supertram for allowing cycles on its trams. There are now 14 people who are interested in finding out whether cycles could be allowed on trams.

Kind regards

FMT Volunteer

The indication is are that things may be moving, last week Stagecoach confirmed that a new MD was appointed for Supertram, after a period during which both Metrolink and Supertram shared an MD with E Midlands Trains.

From the Stagecoach side I'd reckon that a blunt FMT 'auto-complaint' is a waste of effort though, better to build a platform where those who would like and use cycle carriage can gather up in one 'place' to talk to Supertram

There has been some progress - look out for an announcement in the New Year.

I support the general principle here and, as a Sheffield resident and cyclist, it would be interesting to know if anything does come of it.

OK - let's make this thread a clearing house for everyone who would like to see Supertram take the plunge and develop the delivery of cycle carriage on their network.

I suspect the initial deal may be a trial with times, routes and even users carefully managed, in the same way that similar systems in Boston (MA) Portland (OR) etc.

The work of Cycle Sheffield, with their chartered Bike Tram trips up to Halfway over the past 3 years, the 1-day trial of cycle carriage, and the precursor to that, placing a cardboard bike in the appropriate space and asking other passengers what they thought about the idea.

The use of this thread as a platform/clearing house for interest and support for cycle carriage rather than a 'complaint' might just begin to sort the schism that FMT has created with a number of significant Public Transport operators who with some justification, prefer to deal directly with a complainant rather than a third party, when handling an initial complaint. This is not so much a complaint - more an aspiration which can be delivered by getting parties round the table, rather than on opposing sides of a dispute.

Sheffield has a great potential as this year opens - there is LSTF money "A Sustainable Journey to Work in S Yorkshire (SYPTE) to develop initiatives that can combine cycling short distances (and avoiding steep hills). There is serious demand for bikes on trains (10% of passengers on peak time Hope Valley trains 3+% on the Sheffield-Leeds expresses at commuting times) and big potential for bikes on buses (already on the services from Hillsborough to Bradfields - officially and others informally). Add to this the kids (who would otherwise be demanding transport from parents) who can come in to use the BMX track in town on the tram or train or bus.