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!!

Then as many buggies must be folded as necessary to let the wheelchair on.

Sorry, I have tried several times, and on our bus a Maclaren xt stroller, does not fit in any way between the seats! If it did, i would not have spent the last year carrying ds in a sling, because it is killing my back, especially because we have a long walk home.

I'll have you know that the easiest folding buggy on the market is a three wheeler

Which one Pootles? As I say I am on the hunt for one that I can fold one handed, folds small, but lies back - so far the best I've seen is the Petite Star Zia.

Baby jogger city mini. Tis on the top of mn 3 wheeler list (or was last time I checked). Mark on Peepshow demonstrated how easy it is to pick up buggy one handed whilst holding baby on a bus, with the use of cushions :o

There's a strap in the seat which you literally just grab and lift, and the pushchair sort of folds itself.

It lies back almost horizontally, and has the most amazing hood which combined with waterproof cozy toes means you don't need rain cover.

You do need a carry cot with a newborn though, which makes it nowhere near as easy to fold.

How small are the gaps between seats? quick google says maclaren xt folds to 28cm wide? Is that really too wide for your seats? Wow, apologies.

I have a silvercross pop - it folds to 24cm and is slightly lighter/shorter etc.

But I'm surprised 4cm really makes that much difference!

thankyou Pootles, off to have a look at e-bay!

Andrew, try telling that the pushchair owners who've bagsied their places. :o

(Huge generalisation there and I apologise to all the lovely pushchair owners and other passengers who were outstandingly helpful to me on my recent expedition into London. Especially the rather dishy young man who saved me when my frame decided to explore the huge gap under the train on the underground.

And to the idiot woman who swore at me coz expecting her to fold up her monster double buggy was 'fucking ridiculous', nearly starting a riot with the decent outraged passengers, and then got thrown off by the driver, HAHA!)

oh dear OP. i fear you're going to spend a lot of time indoors if you dont see why you should bend yourself a bit to make using the bus possible. i'd suggest a sling but i expect that's too dangerous a method of transport for you too. yes, it would be much easier if you could just roll on and park up, but in many instances you cant. living in a rural area and not driving i would have thought buying a pushchair that was bus friendly (easily folded, light etc) would have been a must.

Bus-driver can and should say "this bus goes nowhere until enough buggies are folded to make room for the wheelchair" and leave it to the psychology of the mob!

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

I think maybe you should stay at home so that you don't have to and there's no risk of me meeting someone so bloody lazy and entitled

The problem where I live is that there is one bus an hour that runs from near my estate to the nearest large town (10 miles so can't exactly walk it) and it never has easy access. These buses are ancient (N reg) and have 2 steps and a pole in the doorway. I have sometimes seen the easy access ones but they are early morning and late evening, not exactly ideal for a day trip is it? You are supposed to phone Arriva on the day of travel to find out when they are running their easy access routes, that is their reasonable adjustment apparently. This bus runs from one major town to another via smaller towns and villages and it doesn't accomodate disabled people, its disgusting.

I can also get another bus to the large town, I walk 20 mins to my small town centre then get this bus which again is only every hour and is usually step free but I have had to fold it before and rely on some very friendly strangers to hold DS while I sort out pram and bags. I hate where I live and can't wait to move! Was awful when DS was in a carrycot.

Bus companies shouldn't be running ricketty old buses that are unbelievably noisy and don't allow disabled people to even get on them, or wait an hour for another one that might be easy access. I don't think as a parent with a pram I have a right to an easy access bus with space for my pram but because of the difficulty I face in travelling on my own I quite often just can't be bothered with all the hassle and the 1.5hrs it takes to travel 10 miles!

Pootles you don't need a carrycot, just a buggy that folds flat. I have the City Mini Jogger but a double - can't bloody wait to have one baby so I can get on the first bus not the fifth as none have room for a double!

I was refused to get on a bus once because a wheelchair user 'might' have needed the space. Fair enough, said I, I will vacate if needs be (I was by myself with 2 month old twins so not able to fold down the buggy). Still wasn't allowed on. I had to get a cab that day, even though I had already paid for a daily bus pass, costing me an extra £10 that I really didn't have. And I was doing someone a favour as well! They have changed the policy now.

And that is my tale of woe on the buses

Eh? You've lost me Whack. I don't have one now, just when ds was tiny because he had to lie flat? I know the bjcm does go flat, but i didn't really want him to be in there without carry cot when so tiny.

We are lucky here all of the buses have room for a wheelchair plus two pushchairs and the route I get runs every 7 minutes so by the time I ad folded the pushchair got 4 children and the folded buggy on the bus the next would be nearly there anyway so I wait until there is a gap to wheel on.
I had a small buggy I use for the bus generally although not in the first 3 months as my babies have been early and small (5 pounds or so) I use a loola with a carrycot.

The buses around here are not cheap and I am pretty sure that if they were as bad as people describe here there would be uproar how do some towns get away with such shitty service?!