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.

puddeycat - oh - I stand corrected.

There's a large sign on my local bus saying that the space is for wheelchair users and they have priority but I guess you can't exactly physically make people do stuff.

I live in Wales.

I've got a bit flushed and anxious even thinking about it.

Nope we can Ask for the buggies to be folded but cannot force or chuck them off the bus. 90% of the time people fold them, but sometimes people have so many shopping bags on the buggy or have a buggy that doesnt fold, just separates in two, that they refuse to fold them. So i just have to explain to the wheelchair user that they wont fold the buggy so i cant fit them on.

Really LaTru? I am close to Newport, compared to Somerset it seems really friendly here. Child wise anyway.

WRt to stroller buggies V big ones (as a stroller owner myself) if I am on a bus I tend to just assume that anyone with a big buggy isn;t a regular usser, I emanw e all have days when car is in garage etc don't we?

much nicer for the old blood pressure!

puddeycat - the law says they DO have priority. However you are of course right to say that you have no power to physically evict the buggy user from the bus.

I think bus companies should have more robust policies in place to deal with this loophole. Perhaps bus drivers should be told that if a buggy user refuses to fold/leave the bus for a wheelchair user, the bus should go out of service until they do so. Yes, it would make the bus late but if it is a relatively rare occurrence it might be worth doing.

I am also wondering whether there could be an argument that the buggy user is no longer complying with the contract under which they have been allowed to travel and can therefore be required to leave the bus (with or without a refund) or treated as a trespasser, allowing the police to be called? A bit drastic, possibly, but I would have thought the threat of the police being called to remove them might focus someone's mind on whether or not their buggy is foldable! I have certainly seen the police called when other people have been asked to leave the bus and refused - due to anti-social behaviour, or smoking, or similar.

Come off it kenobi telling drunks and marauding schoolies to get off because of the way they behave is not the same thing as telling anybody to get off because somebody else wants to get on.

Are you suggesting that drivers should be allowed to do that?

If you are then tell us all: if the passengers are all able-bodied adults without a buggy and all behaving themselves - who gets to stay on and who has to get off?

kungfu Thou has got it spot on. Yea, verily! :)

I did mean when the bus as absolutely full to capacity. Of course people should move to accommodate a wheelchair and buggy's should be folded.

I think people take the sign that says "wheelchair users have priority" too literally. It means that they have priority to that space above other passengers on the bus and that passengers without disability should use another seat or stand. It doesn't mean they have priority to to access the bus, full stop, above all other passengers. If the bus is full they have to wait for the next one unless someone gets off willingly.

Nope, I didn't say they should, I said they have the right.

I think it's in the terms and conditions of carriage or something like that.

YABU. I am impressed that the bus you got on was wide enough to wheel a buggy down, most only get as far as the luggage here (oh and of course the marked space for buggies).
Umbrella fold pushchairs are fine for older children, they may be fine for newborn is you dont intend to walk far or over rough ground. A newborn baby on a long walk in a not very well padded or supported umbrella buggy is awful. Pushchairs should fold if there is no room, if there is room wtf is the problem?

YABU, When did we all become so intolerant of others

Yes people should be more considerate of other bus users, but that's all people, not just those with buggies.

I agree that if you are a regular bus user (everyday in my case) you should have a suitable buggy. I've got a baby jogger which isn't massive and without doubt is the easiest to fold, I got it because I wanted a bus friendly buggy, but it's still a massive PITA to fold the buggy and hold on to a toddler+his nursery bag+my bag then hold his hand onto the bus, show my bus pass and carry the buggy+bags, then find a seat for him, put him in it and hope he stays there/holds on/doesn't go flying at any point because the luggage space isn't suitable for a folded buggy, it's a shelf so the buggy's unsecure and will fly off everytime the bus goes round the corner if you're not standing holding on to it, so you have to stand in front of it, causing more of an obstruction that the unfolded buggy.

Thankfully when I had a bugaboo (given to us, couldn't afford to buy anything) and I had to fold my buggy, 9/10 times other passengers or the driver have helped and held DS's hand while I folded it/held on to it while I sat with/carried DS, but you can't always guarentee helpful people being around.

And not everyone gets to choose their buggy - a lot of people are given them and can't afford to buy a light/small/easliy foldable replacement, and they have to be able to lay flat until at least 6 months so no, not all umbrella folds are suitable from birth, and not everyone can afford one buggy for 0-6months and another for 6 months plus

Really, buses should be better designed.

And that should be the focus not telling parents to buy a new buggy and/or fold it every time just in case it MAY inconveince someone else for 3 seconds by mildly knocking a knee/elbow BY ACCIDENT. I highly doubt they're knocking people on purpose

Buses here actually aren't too bad, they can easily fit a bugaboo along the aisles without upsetting anyone, have seats that keep other passengers legs/feet out of the aisle and room for 3/4 buggies or 1 wheelchair 2 buggies. But it's still a faff having to fold and carry.

The best ones IMO are in Brighton, they have a dedicated wheelchair space on one side that can fit 2 wheelchairs AND space on the opposite side for up to 5 buggies depending on their size/which way they're parked - I've never been asked to fold on one because I've never needed to.

Most bus companies regularly replace their stock regularly anyway, so why not get better user-friendlier ones when they do?

mrsgruffalo and all the others who agree can I ask a)if you use the bus regularly b)if you took your DC's on the bus and folded your buggy without fail and c) if you have ever had to manouver a small baby+bags+buggy and how do you suggest buggy users get round this, because it's all coming accross a bit judgeypants at the moment

And I was under the impression that small easily foldable buggies are a relatively recent thing - my Mum and all her peers all had enourmous silver cross types in the 70's, and she's said a few times that when umbrella folds came out in the 80's they were a godsend (10 year gap between me and older sibling)

YABVU. I don't drive but I usually walk everywhere as I dread having to fold my buggy down, so I would rather just walk than have to worry that someone will get on in a wheelchair. I would have to fold the buggy if somebody did, difficult though it would be, but why on earth would I fold it if there was no need? I am lucky in that if we needed to go to a hospital appointment or something dh would usually be able to drive us there, but some people need to use the bus with a buggy to go to appointments or take children to nursery, childminders etc.

Did it occur to you to offer help to the buggy user so they could fold their buggy up?

If you don't want to put with other people while travelling then perhaps you should use a taxi instead of public transport. I can't say I have ever been bumped by a buggy on a bus, but perhaps this is more likely to happen if you sit there making cat's bum faces every time a buggy gets on

I don't think my mother ever got a bus when I was a baby, but then she drove and I don't. However I'm sure you're going to tell me that people used to get the bus with 10 children, a buggy and 20 bags of shopping, and still fold a buggy up easily, maybe they have more hands than I do. I'd call it progress that buses are more accessible these days both for wheelchairs and buggies.

Re wheelchair users being refused access to bus because of buggies on board - this has happened to me more than once when out with DS. I don't know what the answer to this is but I know it is never acceptable to deny designated wheelchair space on this basis. I like to be assured of pleasant days out with DS and not fear confrontations/rows with those who deny us the space and means to travel. I do think that parents with buggies should have plan of action for when the space is needed by wheelchair.....either fold buggy or get off & wait for next bus.

I occasionally use a bus, not often though, just if I don't have the car for some reason.

I hate big, bulky buggies and I went for a Maclaren umbrella fold that lies flat so suitable from birth, so by no means a oversized buggy.

When I just had one baby I used to manage mostly fine. I would get baby out whilst at the bus stop, do a crazy jiggle to just about fold the buggy and then sort of drag the buggy on with us, trying to not drop a) the baby b) the shopping c) the buggy.
It was a pain in the ass but just about manageable. I ended up taking out a sling, storing it under the buggy and putting baby in that whilst I folded the buggy and went on the bus.

Then I had my DD2, there is a small gap between them and DD1 hadn't yet started walking.

I had to get a double buggy (can't use a sling for more than about 30minutes, back problems). With all the will in the world I couldn't carry two non walking, non standing babies and fold a buggy, let alone manage any shopping.

I put up with lots of rolled eyes and tuts when I got on with my double buggy, but really what other option did I have?

Thankfully, I usually have a car but really feel for mums who have to manage on the bus everyday.

Kungfu - you summarise it perfectly.

It is a bit like complaining you can't park anywhere in the city if you have some massive 4x4...

I don't think it is madness. I would never have been able to stray outside the immediate area that I live in without the excellent bus service - it is not possible to fold a double buggy, plus shopping while holding onto 2 toddlers when you are on your own!

Having said that, I would never claim a space a wheelchair user needed. In fact, I was denied access to a bus just in case a wheelchair user needed it - that wasn't on IMO, I would've got off had someone needed it but I was picking DSS up from school and had no other way to get there.

YAB completely U!

Although where I live even if you are in a wheelchair you cannot get on the bus because there is no access for you. Unless you can get up fold your wheelchair up (assuming it folds) and carry it onto the bus. Bloody nightmare!

Wouldn't it just be easier to line all parents with buggies up and shoot them? Have done with it?

I drive my car everywhere, would rather gouge out my eyeballs than get the bus, with or without pushchair. Long live my car, fuck knows I'd rather stay at home and be a hermit than go out and risk encountering some people on here.

YABU. It really is only a minor inconvenience for other passengers but banning buggies would be a massive inconvenience for parents. Our bus gives prefernce to wheel chairs and only allows 2 pushchairs on at a time in designated spots at the front. Your problem should be with your shitty buses, not parents trying to go about their business.

or Guillotine them GwendolineMaryLacey...

Is it really that hard to manage a bag andf a baby and use you feet to fold down the buggy? You couldn't always put the bag on the ground. I find this helpless attitude so infuriating.
If you were a reguler bus user why would you buy a buggy that couldn't fold? Or only split into two seven kilo parts?

I am a regular bus user ansd was one when my children were small. I live in London.

:o

Have any of you read my OP at all????? I said that in the case of young babies I wouldn't expect them to be removed from their buggies.