To trhinkl that it is madness to allow buggies on buses?

[mrsruffallo]

I think wherever possible (i.e older babies onwards) buggies should be folded up. I am so tired of these oversized contraptions being pushed through the aisles, banging passengers thighs and shoulders as the squeeze talong a narrow aisle. I have had my ankles knocked todday and somehow had to squeeze against another passenger along the crowded aisle to make room for yet another buggy.
Theworst thing I have witnesses was a wheeelchair user being denied access onto the bus because there was already a buggy in the wheelchair space. The buggy owner didn't offer to fold up and got off a few stops later.

Oh dear. This will not end well. YANBU btw, imo. But buggies in the aisles? that doesn't happen on our buses, they're only allowed in the designated space or have to be folded up.

your title doesn't tally with what you say in your OP. do you catually think buggies should not be allowed on buses? it's not clear what you are saying.

I sort of agree with you, but you need about forty pairs of hands to fold a buggy, hold a child that can't walk and hold on to perhaps another toddler.

actually

What would you suggest if parents are going out with children for the day and don't have cars?

But I think people ought to have a bit more consideration for others full stop. To much focus on what individuals need rather than considering wider society and other people. A lot of people seem to regard politeness and respect as subservience.

I'm surprised at a wheelchair user being refused. That's as much if not more the driver's fault, I have been refused access to buses with the buggy because wheelchair users should get the space

Bugger the environment and the our already high traffic volume, eh?

No, I don't think it's madness. But I do think that buggy users and people in general ought to be more considerate of other people while going about their everyday life.

YABU.

Wheelchair users have priority, that's a given and the driver was out of order as the buggy owner should have been asked to fold or get off. But apart from that, why shouldn't we make life a bit easier for people with buggies, especially as we're all supposed to be using cars less even if we do have them?

Trust me, you'd get your elbows much more if I had to struggle up the aisle of a bus carrying DS, a load of shopping bags and my (very awkward) folded buggy rather than wheeling everything onto the bus.

Sorry, that should say elbows bumped.

You could leave the folded buggies in the designated luggage pace, you don't need to trail it around after you.
How is it bad fir the environment to fold a buggy up?

Around here, there is a note in each bus that says buggy users have to make space for wheelchairs if required.

It's a nightmare to fold them, while at the same time holding on to bags/toddler and trying to keep your balance, so I can see why most parents will leave them unfolded unless circumstances dictate otherwise.

What not on buses at all? What are you supposed to do when the nearest supermarket is 20miles away? OF course I could walk it. I await suggestions for how to drop dd at school, walk to the supermarket, do the shopping and walk back and still be in time for school coming out.

What luggage space? There is no space for luggage on our buses! Wheelchairs take precedence over my pushchair, and I am absolutely fine with that.

However, if there's a no pushchair or only folded pushchair rule, many mothers, including myself, couldn't use buses or would feel that the car was easier. Thus, it is bad for the environment.

What designated luggage space? Here we have a waist-height tray that's big enough for a small suitcase: it would be really dangerous to leave a buggy in it because it would go flying into someone's face as soon as the bus lurched.

Speaking as a mum of a baby and preschooler who doesn't drive I disagree - there is etiquette - and wheelchairs should always take priority, but having to fold a buggy is a challenge, as is holding a wriggly older baby on the bus. I have a mclaren, and you can fit three of them unfolded on accessible buses. round here we still have some of the buses with steps in operation and they are a nightmare.

I think we've identified the issue.

Mrsruffallo's local service retains the luggage space, so the buses have narrow aisles. Too narrow for anyone to get a pushchair down one easily, without injuring unwary passengers.

yabu
and I say that as someone who has a child in a wheelchair.
yes if someone is in the wheelchair space they should always move and fold. but to say that buggies shouldn't be on buses is a bit mean.

Can someone tell me how to hold a baby, change bag and the shopping and fold the buggy at the same time. I can't do it

i don't drive, and take the bus almost every day. dd has just started walking. i also have hip problems since her birth, and while i am not disabled, maneuvering a pushchair is tough anyway.

on buses in my area, at least, there is space for three buggies (or two and a wheelchair). apart from that, buggies have to be folded. (luckily, i have only had that come up twice, and both times i waited for the next bus rather than struggle with the pushchair.

if you think that i could manage to fold up our stupid pushchair (not large, but cheap and old), hang on to a toddler, changing bag, and even one small shopping bag, without holding up everyone on the bus and generating an awful lot of hatred, you are sadly mistaken.

i do try to be considerate and watch for people's feet, knees, bags. DD likes to reach into handbags if they come into her range, so i have to keep an eye on that.

YANBU to want people to be careful and considerate, but I can't see how this is a big enough problem that it requires a solution which would make life so incredibly difficult for other people.

YABU. It's public transport and is there for everybody. The buggy owner (or 'parent') you witnessed should have folded up the buggy of course and I'm not making excuses. If she or he didn't do it, the bus driver should have insisted. But this isn't a reason to insist that buggies should be folded at all times.

My xp uses a wheelchair and has only ever once had to make a fuss in order to get space on a bus - and that was because the bus driver was an arse.

Yes, buggies are getting ridiculously large. But it's possible to park even the oversized ones in the designated space without causing injury to others. And if I have ever knocked an ankle or nudged a back it wasn't because I was being careless on purpose, honestly. It's very hard to fold a buggy while wrangling your groceries, bus fare, a baby and a toddler who wants to run away.

Yes, it's annoying, but so are people on buses who don't use soap, who leave litter, who spread their legs over two seats, who play their music too loud and who complain about young children with no socks on. But isn't life way too short to get incensed about other people's little failings? (Ah, but then we'd have no AIBU).

For a really scary experience with buggies, try a Boden sale.

however.
if you started a thread about the evilness of oversized buggies, in themselves, i would be in total agreement.

YABU. When my dd was a baby I had a pram which didn't fold down and sometimes I hads to use the bus. I never travelled at rush hour just during the day and I would put the pram in the designated area. There were a few times when I couldn't get on the bus because there was a wheelchair there but I just waited for the next bus.

I was always careful but if I sometimes did bump someone I would apologise and I never had anyone complain like you do!

We have just bought an easy to fold pushchair (the baby jogger), specifically so we can get on the school bus in the morning (it is an old coach so doesn't have any space at all for buggies, wheelchairs or luggage, apart from under the bus). Ds is 15 months, and has global developmental delay and other issues meaning he will need the buggy for a good while into the future. I used to sling him, but he is enormous and because of his low muscle tone, not easy to carry. It is a juggle trying to get him, the buggy, dd1 and dd2 (5 and 4) and a bag containg all their school stuff, onto the bus (fortunately we have a lovely bus driver, who is very helpful!)

If we have to catch any other bus (I don't drive), it is a nightmare, we always try and fold the pushchair, unless there is tons of room and ds is asleep, and I usually have to ask for help, which has on occasion been met with blank stares.

If I couldn't catch the bus, I would be shafted, and I try as best as I can to be considerate of other bus users. There are always going to be people who aren't considerate, but to tar everyone with the same brush is a little unfair.