Do track closure shuttle buses have bike racks?

I am getting a bit concerned about the track closures on the CS. I have a southbound from Eugene to Sacramento on July 1. It is especially problematic for me since I will have a bicycle.

I am hoping the track opens up by then but in the event I need to take a bus..... Do the shuttle buses used to go around closures have bike racks? I sure hate to have to stuff the bicycle into the luggage compartment.

Of the many bustitution buses that I have had the pleasure of riding for various reasons in various parts of the country, none had bike racks. They were whatever Amtrak could find locally at the time, ranging from school buses to luxury coaches. But as Bob says, YMMV and you may luck out.

If they use the luxury coaches, they have large luggage bins under the bus. I think these can easily fit a bike. But I’m not sure.

The couple of AmBuses I've ridden in Oregon had bike racks, but those were operated by local transit agencies.

It might be a moot point, though. It doesn't look Amtrak is planning to run any service between Eugene and Sacramento until the tunnel in Oregon is fixed. Tomorrow (11 June) appears to be the last day for the bus bridge, and for service between Klamath Falls and Sacramento.

I think the OP knows this. It's possible to do, if the bus company allows it. It's SOP on California thruways, but in other parts of the country, particularly where the service is operated by Greyhound, it's not allowed. It's also a pain. You sometimes have to disassemble the bike, when space is tight. Damage from shifting luggage is possible too. But you do what you have to do, and I've seen bus drivers go to great lengths to make it work.

Bike racks are much nicer.

the_traveler said:

If they use the luxury coaches, they have large luggage bins under the bus. I think these can easily fit a bike. But I’m not sure.

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TiBike said:

The couple of AmBuses I've ridden in Oregon had bike racks, but those were operated by local transit agencies.

It might be a moot point, though. It doesn't look Amtrak is planning to run any service between Eugene and Sacramento until the tunnel in Oregon is fixed. Tomorrow (11 June) appears to be the last day for the bus bridge, and for service between Klamath Falls and Sacramento.

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I don't understand. So why are they still booking seats for later in the month when they are not certain it is going to be open? Or are they pretty certain it will be open later in the month?

Service alerts are way out of date on the amtrak site. I don't know why they bother having the page.

I don't know what Amtrak is doing. It looks like they're cancelling service north of Sacramento on a rolling basis, with a few days lag time.

Maybe they have hard information about when the tunnel repair will be finished, but I haven't seen any info like that.

I would keep looking to see what happens. Without going in to too many details, service will be curtailed for a period of time. I'd rather not say how long I've heard, as things can always change. Think about how short the project was suppose to be, and then everything escalated.

Anyway, in case this thread is seen in the future, the types of buses that are generally used are Greyhound type, or even school buses in a worst case scenario. I have never seen or heard of either of those types of buses providing a bike rack, as found on a city bus. Bikes should, but potentially may not be able to be accommodated based on the room available under the bus.

And in some cases, checked bag service may still be offered between cities being bustitued. Between K Falls and Eugene they were actually transporting checked bags in a Uhaul for the duration of this disruption.