nathand

I did a bike/bus commute for a summer in the Boston area 15 years ago, when my job relocated from Cambridge (2 mile commute) to Billerica (15 miles). More recently I've done occasional bike/bus commutes to get across the bay in the San Francisco area. A couple of questions worth considering:
- Can you bike the whole way if something goes wrong with the bus? I don't have that option crossing the bridges across the bay, and being completely at the mercy of the bus can be tough.
- Is the bus schedule reliable? Can you get real-time arrival predictions? If the bus is delayed or doesn't come, is there somewhere to wait? Can you pick up a coffee or pastry there?
- Do the bike racks on the bus you need usually have space? How frequently does the bus run, if the racks are full? Some drivers will let cyclists take a bike onto the bus if the racks are full but the bus is empty; does your transit system have a policy on this?
- Weather. A ride in the rain might not be bad. A ride in the rain, followed by sitting on the bus soaking wet for half an hour and then a bit more riding, is a lot less pleasant.

While I've occasionally missed a bus (sometimes my fault, and sometimes the bus got cancelled) and had to wait an hour, those have been infrequent, and in general I've found that a bike+bus commute worked pretty well for me so long as I made sure to be at the bus stop on time. I've only rarely had issues with all the bike racks being full, and I've never had a bike stolen from on of the racks (although in general there's been little opportunity as I've taken the bus over a bridge or a on a highway, boarding just before that road section and exiting just after).