Congrats on the route completion, the coverage, and for being involved. Awesome all around!

+1 on calling to try out a bike rack. I've met the folks responsible in 2 city gov'ts and they're very much open to ways to get people to try. I got to try one out the first time at a community bike event where they brought a bus down so anyone could give it a shot -- and now I do it several times a week. In Denver the main downtown bus terminal actually has a full-time demo rack inside!

Another tactic is to try it out on a Saturday or non-peak hour, so not so stressful, or to test it one day by driving to the first stop on that route, or to a terminal or other non-street stop where the bus is stopped longer and there's no traffic to worry about.

Just know that it doesn't take nearly as long as you think, and you're helping increase both bus ridership and bike commuting, so you're one of the happy stats for the city employees!