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.

A car seat fits into a safety belt. That is what makes it safe.

You cannot make a car seat in a buggy on a bus safe in the same way.

Not in the same way, no, or approaching any comparable level of safety.

But for the standard lurching around corners, sudden braking, etc, toddler in pushchair seems less likely to be thrown into a pole.

My dd is 2.2 and fairly big for her age. She looks NT but for have SN hence why we use a buggy! Would you rather have my daughter screaming relentlessly on a bus or in he buggy where she feels safe?! Dont be judgy! However I always fold buggy when a wheelchair user needs space

no not as safe, but facing back to front then when the initial biggest lurch forward happens there is nowhere for it to go, then the slump back is slower and less forceful. Held on the lap the kid gets the worst of it when forced forward against the bar by the parent's weight!

I don't put the buggy in sideways or just "loose" in the middle, If there isn't room to put it in properly "back to front" against the back rest them I get another bus

Basically what grumplestiltskin is describing ^.

I get so spectacularly annoyed by these threads and really must stop reading them.

I think the issue is that half of mumsnet had kids a decade or so ago, and we do know (because we had to do it due to the bus styles at the time) that it is perfectly possible for any reasonably competent adult to:

1. Fold a buggy before the bus turns up, while safely managing a baby, toddler, shopping etc.
2. Get them on to the bus quickly and politely.
3. Travel on a bus while supervising baby and toddler and not injure ourselves or the children in the process.

And the supposed helplessness of able bodied people who are taking advantage of a service that wheelchair users (not pram owners) brought into existence by chaining themselves to the wheels of buses in protest is staggering.

right so a mum who doesn't drive and has to shop via busses with buggies can unload all the shopping onto the pavement (without it getting kicked over/in the way of other pedestrians), hold the baby, hold the pram, get pram and shopping and baby and change bag on bus without holding everyone up?

I don't think so. Maybe if its a mum and toddler out for the day in a stroller. But a mum who HAS to use a public transport who has a small (regularly sleeping) baby plus change bag plus shopping...... get real! Buggy plus bus is some peoples ONLY means of transport you know!

I'm guessing you had a car when you had a small baby?

of course there should be wheelchair spaces for wheelchair users. If they're empty them let the buggies on! in fact IMO there should be more buggy spaces. using public transport is good for the environment and is not always a choice.

and why do some people think it has to be either/or anyway (buggies OR wheelchairs). There should be space for both and people should be nice to both.

Yeah. Mothers (including mine) did do all that. And the driver and the other passengers would sigh loudly as they carried their shopping and baby on and off.

She always had the pushchair down before the bus even got there, because otherwise the driver would say they were running late and couldn't wait. There would be black looks and sighs (my mother claims she had getting onto a bus down to an artform) as they carried their shopping and the pushchair, and the baby on. According to my mother, never any help offered.

Nowt much as changed, has it?

I didnt have a car till I was 36 so no.

BUT I lived in a busy part of london and did everything on foot.

I walked for miles and miles because getting on a bus was such a bloody faff. To be avoided at all costs. Once I had the double buggy it was impossible anyway. When DD was a baby I would hold her between my legs whilst folding the buggy. SHe didnt seem to mind though I expect it looked alarming

I have taken a buggy on a bus a few times since having the younger DCs and it was a lot easier but still pretty unpleasant. Given the choice I would rather walk.

Not an option if you live in the country or have mobility issues

MllyR is right though. Those bus spaces were hard won (like the parking spaces).

Are you being unreasonable? I dont know. But you are being a bit dim.

well I walked everywhere when I lived in london too. the by food route often took much less time than the public transport route too. but I don't live there now and here isn't as walkable. I walked whenever it was doable.

Now, I will fold or get off entirely for a wheelchair. Whichever is quickest, as I always say on these threads.

But I don't see the point of a blanket-ban on unfolded pushchairs, especially as the bus service would eventually lose money from it, and it would put more cars on the road.

So because I can't hold a baby, several shopping bags and fold a buggy at the same time I'm useless then?

I also didn't say I wouldn't walk, just that I would struggle to walk it and be back in time for school run.

We are a 2 baby family YABVU

you shouldn't have to. public transport should be made easy for EVERYONE so that more people use it!

why all the harking back to the past? sounds like my parents and the 'in our day we didn't have car seats and we survived' rants

so what if it was different in the past - they didn't have wheelchair spaces either. It's called progress and being inclusive. I really don't see the problem.

Now if the original moan had been about parents who refuse to fold when the bus is full or if a wheelchair needs to get on - that's a different matter. But who cares if someone doesn't fold their buggy on a half empty bus?

YABU.

No it's not madness at all. The system works very well on our local services, no problems at all. If it's a newer buggy friendly bus then passengers can wheel their buggy into the designated space [assuming they aren't occupied]. If it's an older style bus then they fold them. No problem, and no need for whinging or moaning, though I'm sure the OP some people probably would just for the sake of it.
Of course everyone knows that wheelchairs take precedence as there are notices to that effect.

Riven - agreed

I am struggling to see the OPs point as she isn't complaining about whingers. she is complaining about everyone who gets on a bus without folding

What MillyR and Riven say. It's not impossible! I used to manage with a large backpack for shopping and got all the bulky stuff delivered. And ask for help if no-one offers.

What happens if the baby is still so small it's still in a pram that can't be folded? Should they not be allowed on a bus?

Riven things were IMPOSSIBLE in the olden days. inaccessible public transport meant that many just didn't go anywhere, it didn't mean we always got there regardless. A lot of things that are possible for parents and children now WERE impossible then. people in the community I grew up in could only go to town ONCE A WEEK if they didn't drive, which was most of them! Kids lost out and were very isolated because there was nothing in walking distance (not many other kids). Even now the busses are about 4 times a day. Town is 7 miles away from where the bus starts. children are tired and buggies are full of shopping. Why do people want to make things HARDER for mums who are restricted to public transport not easier?????

making public transport available AND EASY for everyone is a good thing, how anyone can disagree baffles me!