Bikes on SEPTA

Tomorrow I am making the trek out to Pottstown to see Joey and get some pedals put on my bike and have him make adjustments on it so it fits like a glove. So why am I worried?

Everyone I know has a crazy story about riding SEPTA transit, so I'm a bit apprehensive about taking myself and my new bike on the R6 to Norristown and then on the 93 bus to Pottstown. Since Regional Rails don't allow bikes on any peak time trains, I pretty much had to wait for a weekend day to do this thing. So, as any good SEPTA user, I read the rules for bikes to make sure I'm doing this the right way and I found this nugget:

"If a disabled passenger or a passenger in a wheelchair boards after a cyclist, and the Priority Seating space is needed to accommodate this passenger, the cyclist must remove their bicycle, vacate the space, and leave the train unless another designated Priority Seating area is available."

So, does that mean I would get a voucher for the next available train, which on the weekend is every hour? Or would these bastards try to make me pay for a second fare? It doesn't specify, but I have a feeling there would be a fight. Now, the odds of this happening are really, really small, but it still makes me a bit leary.

The second part of my trip on the 93 bus has me the most worried. Shit never works on buses so I can't help but think the bike rack on the front, on the day and time I need it most, will be broken or non-existant. I've seen drivers go right past people in wheelchairs at stops and was told its because drivers don't want to deal with loading wheelchair passengers so I wouldn't put it past them to not want to bother with my bike.

I'm not trying to hate on SEPTA because I usually have very pleasant experiences and meet very nice employees, but sometimes it's easier to keep your expectations low and then be suprised when things do work out. In the end once I get my bike tricked out, I will then proceed to take the bus back to Norristown and the train to Manayunk and ride the darn thing back into town. Freakin finally!