Who has priority with bus

[Corncoby]

I have a minor disability meaning I can’t drive at the moment and rely on the bus and buggy to get around. I never have issue with this as bus has space for 2 buggies in a buggy section and a wheel chair space. For the first time today the bus was busy and the buggy space was taken up with 2 shopping trolleys. I was told bus was full and I couldn’t get on unless I folded my buggy which I can’t do due to disability also wasn’t any space to put buggy once folded really. When I got on the next bus the buggy area states this area is for buggys. Should the trolleys be made to move. It meant I was late for my doctors appointment as even though I had got the earlier bus so that I had plenty of time the second bus was late. Who has priority I guess some of the trolly users could have been disabled too

You don’t have priority over other people who also have to get places on time.

I think people have to move/give way to wheelchair users if they're in the wheelchair space but pushchairs don't get priority.

Here you would be expected to fold or wait for the next.

Were you using the buggy as a mobility aid? I'm not quite clear on whether you had a child with you using buggy or not?

If it was empty then the driver/others must have assumed it could be folded and didn't realise your disability. Have you thought of getting a wheeled walker? They're great and have a seat and can take a fair bit of shopping.

I think a person using mobility equipment or a buggy should ideally get priority over a trolley full of shopping, owned by someone with no disabilities. But it can get a bit tricky and reliant on good will when busy.

Sorry yes I have a baby with me. I get I don’t have priority over getting somewhere bug bus has a buggy area for buggy’s and it was filled with two woman with a shopping trolly all middle aged. When I was on the bus pre baby a woman was told to love so that the buggy could get on. I just thought that was standard practice that you move for the buggy unless your a wheelchair user or already there with a buggy.

It's an awkward one.
If a buggy is being used for medical/disability reasons you can get special signs to attach that say "please treat as a wheelchair" and the pushchair gets priority. However this is generally for the child who is using the buggy because they are too small for a regular wheelchair rather than the parent but it might work for you.
Buggy vs shopping trolley is down to politeness really - there usually isn't an official rule.

The areas are for wheelchairs/mobility scooters only - not for shoppers trolleys!

The people with shopping trolleys should have been told to move them. They might be an essential aid for some but they are essentially luggage.

Who told you the bus was full? If it was the driver he should know what the rules are regarding this space. I’ve not seen a bus with separate buggy and wheelchair spaces, they are wheelchair spaces that buggies can use if no wheelchair. But shopping trolleys are neither of those things.

As I said it's an awkward one.
Many older people actually use their shopping trolley as a mobility aid for walking plus when they are full of shopping they can't exactly be folded down.
It's hard to say who really should get the priority. I'm glad I am not a bus driver.....

they call it a buggy space but it’s also the space for mobility aids like walkers and shopping baskets which many use as mobility aids too. Your needs don’t trump theirs. Buggies have always needed to be collapsed if required (or if that’s not possible you can be asked to get off eg for an additional wheelchair

There are signs up on the buses that I use locally saying 'Buggy users must give priority to wheelchair users'. In reality, from what I've witnessed this rarely happens. An announcement will come over the PA system to the effect that people in the wheelchair space will need to move as a wheelchair user is boarding the bus. Most of the time they just stand there and say 'Well what am I supposed to do with my buggy?'. Fold it up maybe? No,my child is asleep. A lot of time,it ends up in an argument with some gobby parent mouthing off about they were there first. There's not a lot the bus driver can do,to be honest. As a person with a mobility issue myself (thankfully not in a wheelchair) it really annoys me. These spaces were created on buses after disability charities worked hard to get them. The understanding was that buggy users could use them if they were not required for a wheelchair. But gradually over the 20 years that they've been around,this has changed to buggy users getting priority. I've seen quite a few wheelchair users not able to get on a bus because of this.

Maybe the trolley was being used as a mobility aide?

Well there are seats at the front with space on front of them, the priority seats- I think the people with shopping trollers need to be sitting there really and not standing in the wheelchair /buggy area. I will always get off if necessary for a wheelchair user or give them priority if we can’t both occupy the space but I will not be prevented from using the designated area with a buggy if it is available by people standing there with luggage etc. The bus drivers just don’t want to get involved.

YANBU

A disabled person in a wheelchair/wheelchair buggy has the highest priority for the space
Then a disabled person such as yourself
Then buggies with a baby / young toddler
Then anything else eg shopping trolly

Yes where I am they use them as mobility aids so just like you’re doing so not sure why you take priority over them in that case. The drivers wouldn’t feel comfortable asking them to move.

Also the ‘fold your buggy’ brigade can do one. I challenge them to do that on a moving bus in an aisle while juggling shopping and a small child and then having nowhere to put the bloody thing anyway.

I was under the impression that wheelchairs/mobility scooters were top priority and pushchairs/trollies had to move for them.

But no hierarchy after that for pushchairs/luggage etc.

@Corncoby if the items are not specifically disability items then they should be removed. shopping trolleys are definitely not disability aids and should not be used as such. the priority should be wheelchairs, then buggies. but buggies can be folded up, like we always had to do with ours. there never used to be wheelchair spaces on the buses.

I don’t know the law on it.

But I have seen a few bus drivers refuse to take people unless they can fold the prams when it’s busy, so I am assuming that prams do not have priority.

I understand why you’d feel upset but you were expecting someone to have to get off the bus to let you on, which isn’t fair.

I use to get off but tbf I live in London so was never a long wait for another. Obviously different if you live somewhere with limited transport.

I suppose the issue it that trolleys cant be folded and youre not allowed to leave them in the gangway. And also/usually they're mobility aids for old ladies.

Could you not all have squeezed though? Im in london so appreciate our buses might be better but 2 trolleys and a buggy would fit in with some wiggling

Think you’re being a harsh on the OP. These huge shopping trollies are a menace. They stick out into the aisle, some don’t budge to let pushchairs in or do so grudgingly. They shouldn’t be in the wheelchair/ buggy spaces . Some could put them in the rack, or use smaller trollies.

They shouldn’t be, then

But why do buggies get priority over shopping trolleys? If the trolley is there first do you really expect the person using it to get off for someone with a buggy? Even if that trolley is used in place of a mobility aid?

the space for a wheelchair is rightly protected in law but otherwise it is rightly first come first served.