to think thats its ridiculous that buses don't have to have space for wheelchairs and pushchairs?

[Sarz84]

Today I decided I was going to venture into town to meet a friend, I don't drive and live rurally where the buses only run every hour. After rushing round like a headless chicken I managed to make it to the bus stop in time, however much to my annoyance when the bus doors opened the driver simply said "no space for buggys on this bus".
Well to say I was annoyed is an understaement, I politely enquired whether the next bus would have space but the driver had "no idea love".
I can't believe that in modern society that public transport is still unaccesable to certain groups of people. Had I been in a wheelchair I would have also have been left waiting and hoping the next one could take me. It seems stupid that the government want us to use public transport yet its not possible for everyone to use it through no fault of their own!!

a bus isn't a car, of course there are different rules! Fold up your pram and get over yourself.

All new buses have wheelchair spaces/accesibility, however older buses can't be retrofitted and its not cost effective to just dump them all.

SiamoFottuti I'm pretty sure if the bus was to have an accident and was full of mothers holding young babies then they would have to dump them all, also how do you get a wheelchair onto a coach?

A coach would be brilliant surely? You can fold buggy and put it in luggage hold

I fold my (Maclaren) buggy at the bus stop and carry it on the bus, it fits with wheels sticking out in the luggage hold or if thats full, there are certain seats with more legroom that it can fit in. MIL also uses these seats when she travels with her trolley

pram on a bus

here is one somehow attached to the front of a bus in NZ. The picture I saw a long time ago had two rows of buggies or prams one above the other attached in some way to the back of a bus.

You are being unreasonable if you don't see why you should fold your pushchair.

Can't quite believe that picture from NZ! Rules are different on buses than cars because a bus is so big and slow moving it doesn't get thrown around in the same way a car does, hence you don't need to wear a seatbelt on a bus.

I guess its the same reason they don't have enough storage space for suitcases on trains - it all comes down to cost. They need to get as many paying passengers on the bus as possible, guessing for each buggy space they loose about normal seats at least?

Don't be ridiculous, how do you think people get around on buses? Children and babies have been using them for a century and more, what exactly makes you so special?

I'm not saying I won't fold the pushchair and if I had a toddler I would but its not safe to sit holding a newborn baby, also theres still no room for wheelchairs, would you tell a disabled person to fold their wheelchair?

"I also don't see why I should fold up the pushchair and hold my 9 week old baby"

I don't suppose your baby would be any safer strapped in a pushchir in the event of an accident. If you are going to be a regular public transport user perhaps you should consider using a sling while your baby is tiny and getting a buggy that is easy to fold up. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect you to fold up a buggy because it can cause an obstruction.

Sarz84 you do realise don't you that there are no buses which have been adapted for mothers holding babies and prams?

Oops meant 2 normal seats.

I think you will find that it is fairly safe, it is definately pretty common. If you were in such a terrible accident that the passengers were affected (most minor bumps wouldnt be felt) I am not sure a pushchair would help in any way.

really don't see the problem with folding a buggy and holding a baby. akward yes, but impossible no.
I never take dd on buses, she is in a wheelchair and aprt form the hassle of getting people to get out of the space, I don't think they are safe, she has a wheelchair with a heavy seating system, if she goes on school transport on our WAV, the chair is strapped to the floor, (then she has a seat belt on) so in a crash it would be the safest thing, yet on a bus, the only think stopping it is the brakes!! imagine it in a crash.
so imo A Child isn't going to be any safer being in a pram/push chair, than it's mothers arms.

and the constant comparing of yourself to people in wheelchairs is really quite offensive. You have working arms and legs, one presumes, try using them and stop bleating. Or walk.

agree with many others on here; I had to fold buggy whilst holding LO and the shopping bags and the nappy bag etc then having LO sit on my knee whilst his brother was terrorising others on the bus....so I'm finding it really hard to understand any moaning about it

There are quite a lot of buses here that are old coaches and don't have a buggy/wheelchair space.

Everyday we get the bus up to school (me with dd1 - 5, dd2 - 4 and ds - 1) we tried it once with a maclaren folded up, but it was too long and stuck out into the aisle, contravening health and safety, so for the last year we have done it with ds in a sling, he is now 1 and about 24 lbs, so don't think i'll be able to do it for much longer though! so we are looking for something that folds small enough to put on a seat, but supportive enough for ds (who has low muscle tone).

It is doable, even with a tiny baby (bus drivers and other passengers are usually kind enough to help out if asked), but can be a bit of a pain in the arse.

Your baby is 9 weeks old.

Why not put a sling in the bottom of your pushchair, then you can fold the pushchair up put it in the luggage rack or lean against a spare seat, put baby in the sling and sit with baby strapped to you if necessary. I used to do this when DD was small. Once she was a little bigger, she just sat on my lap.

You will be waiting a bloody long time if you want an accessible bus in the countryside.

Nesta -soft play has been around at least 20 years! I know, because I used to take DS (now 23) there on the bus with baby DD in a buggy, which I had to fold because you couldn't take it on the bus unfolded. I had DS on reins, which I would loop over my arm while holding DD and folding the buggy one-handed. When DS got a bit older he would go up the steps first and find a seat while I folded the buggy & put it on the bus.

It wasn't easy, though, so I don't begrudge today's mums with young children their comparatively easy bus access!

You might be able to get a strap for your pushchair too? I know mclaren's and my silvercross pop have these (and are suitable from birth) so you can fold, and then carry the pushchair on over your shoulder, with baby in arms.

Did you know that although the Titanic didn't have enough lifeboats for everyone on board, it had more than it legally had to have?

Just saying . . . there have been worse legal loopholes in history than this one.

I would've said YANBU.

But then I've just read your comment - "I also don't see why I should fold up the pushchair and hold my 9 week old baby"

So for that - if you can't be bothered to even try and fold your pram up - YABU.

Walk or buy a sling.

The newer the model of bus, the higher the requirement for wheelchairs; and of course if that space is not being used for wheelchairs it is avaialble for buggies.

But there is no requirement to scrap all the older buses. Just like there is a great deal of first- and second-floor office space in older buildigns with no lift. You can't expect everything to be changed "just like that".

And however much space there is: when it's full, it's full. First come, first served.

As for those huge triangular buggies . . . no, I won't get myself started.

LaWeasel - I don't know about the op, but the bus we get on for school, doesn't even have a luggage rack, and most pushchairs/prams even strollers would struggle to fit on to an empty seat (I've tried), we're having to get yet another bloody pushchair for just this reason! Also I don't think I would be able to manage a stroller over the shoulder, ds in his sling, and the bag on and off the bus! We do have a very helpful bus driver, but always get a lot of tuts when we are getting off the bus, as we seem to be in everyones way!

Unless the last to come is someone in a wheelchair. Then all hell lets loose.

I don't mean ON the empty seat, the way I do it, fold puschair, put the pushchair with one set of wheels on the floor, and the rest leaning against the window seat. So you're kind of wedging it between the window seat and the seat in front.

Plonk bags on top/in the spare seat space. You sit in the aisle seat with baby on lap.

Yes, it's awkward, but I have done it a million times. So have lots of other parents.

The straps are really helpful, I'm not sure if have described them well, they are shoulder straps? So you just have the strap over your shoulder and pushchair hangs down your back. (You do need a properly small and light pushchair - the maclaren xl, silvercross pop and I think there is a from birth obaby? Are all perfect for this kind of situation) With a sling, you've got two hands for bags, or with a bigger less lungy child you can have them carried on one hip and the other hand for your bags.

The nice thing about buses IME though, is that normally someone will see me trying to do all this and offer to carry things off for me so I can just take DD and the bags while they take the pushchair or similar.