To think that pushchairs should have same priority as wheelchairs on buses?

[SparklyC]

Today - packed bus, I was in the pushchair bit on the bus, another mum got on with a buggy loaded with shopping. People sat in space that could have held another buggy in it didn't get up so both our pushchairs had to go in one space and my pushchair is one of those big all-terrain things! Then bus driver stopped bus for wheelchair user and asked us if either of us could fold down our pushchairs/move? Well, first of all, there wouldn't have been any room for us to sit down with our babies and also have our shopping on our knee or even stored on luggage shelf once pushchairs were on. Also the bus service I travel on has a bus every 4 minutes in the daytime. So the bus driver (who obviously has to be sen to be doing the right thing) got off the bus to tell the wheelchair user that the bus was full, and would he mind waiting for the next one, which he didn't anyway. What does everyone else think? Should we mums with our pushchairs be given the same priority as wheelchairs? Should bus drivers ask other passengers to move so that we can get on, instead of (sometimes) feeling like we are an annoyance and an obstacle to them?

YABU - people being considerate towards those with pushchairs is a courtesy.
Having rules in place for those with wheelchairs is a necessity.

YABU (if you're not just on a wind-up).

Get a cheap easily-collapsible buggy for taking on public transport. Or if your baby is small, carry it in a sling/frontpack - much easier.

Able bodied people should help accommodate people with disabilities without needing to be asked. You, and other passengers. Ideally, you should have folded as soon as you saw the wheelchair, and others should have helped you too with your buggies/babies.

YABU. And extremely precious.

YABVU and also very selfish. I have seen people with prams refuse to give up their space for a wheelchair around here in the past and it has made me furious! There is no 'pushchair space' on a bus (or at least not on our buses) it is a wheelchair space which may be used by a pushchair if there is no wheelchair user wishing to use the space at that time.

YABU - and very rude not to have folded up your pushchair before getting onto the bus.

Use a backpack for shopping.

Buy a pushchair that can be folded and carried one-janded.

Fold pushchair before the bus arrives.

OF COURSE a wheelchair gets priority over a pushchair. You could get your baby our, hold them with one hand and deal with your shopping exactly as everyone else in the bus does, as you still have 2 working legs and one free arm.

Sorry, next time I'll get my 5'4, 9 and a half stone, 15 year old daughter out of her wheelchair, fold it up, lie her on the floor whilst I get her chair on, pick her up carry her on and sit her on my lap. That okay for you OP?

Zukiecat... possibly one of the mums used 'that voice' (the one used for cute kittens and other people's babies but that should never be used to another grown-up and which she wouldn't have used to anyone able-bodied) and something just snapped.....

I've never seen a wheelchair on a bus when I was able bodied.
And now that I am not able bodied I don't use the bus.
Are there really that many wheelchair users getting on buses for this to be a problem?

I automatically shift myself out of the wheelchair space with the buggy, if a wheelchair user needs it. No questions. Wheelchair users get the priority, as they damn well should.

Well that was her choice not to board that bus. At least she was given a choice....

dancingmustard as a frequent user of buses in Edinburgh, I can honestly tell you that wheelchair users are not common, and it is very rarely a problem.

On the rare occasion a wheelchair user is waiting and needs the space I'm occupying, I am outta there!

If I can't fold my buggy up for whatever reason, I get off.

The line on the buses in Edinburgh is that buggies are welcome to use the space if it is not required by a wheelchair user...but if a wheelchair user needs it, you have to shift. Which I think is fair.

Oh and OP....I am astonished that the driver on your bus did not insist that you move, and in fact, got off the bus and told the wheelchair user to wait for the next one!!!
He's a prick and as bad as you.

I just don't understand why people think they can get on a bus with a pushchair unfolded. Haven't got buses for years but did as a teenager with a baby brother - even at 14 I was able to hold baby/toddler brother and fold up pushchair one handed. If you need to get buses then you get a pushchair that can be folded easily - simple.

ChunkyPickle - I do agree that it can be hard to have a small toddler standing on a bus. But you know what you do? You say, in a loud voice (assuming no one offers) "I'm going to fold my buggy for this wheelchair, could I possibly have a seat so my toddler doesn't fall over?"

I don't fold my buggy before getting on the bus - it's a bit of a bugger to control baby, toddler and buggy to get on and off and it takes quite a lot longer. Since 95% of the time I don't need to fold, I figure I'll just do so when I need to. It takes a minute for the ramp to come out for a wheelchair, so you have time.

Dont be such a knob.
This isnt true, right??

but the point is that we shouldnt be having this wheelchair verses pushchair debate, Public transport should be made accessible to everyone, that includes mothers who use buggies, old women with shopping trollies as well as wheel chair users. people are reliant on the buses, to do their shopping, to go to appointments, even to take their kids to school.

some people may be able to use internet shopping and slings, but others are not able to.
some 2 year olds may be able to walk, others will not be able to.

so we should all stop judging each others choices.

Those mothers with multiple children, who cant drive or cant afford a car, they are the ones who use public transport to shop with. those who have more money would use their car or a cab. shouldnt we be looking at ways of making their lifes easier, not more difficult?

There should be pushchair spaces on buses.

these women, like myself, often are using second hand, or passed down pushchairs, so dont have the option of choosing one that you can fold with one hand etc. and many dont have credit/debit cards for internet shopping.

The latest model of buses that LRT (Lothian Regional Transport) are bringing out have a wheelchair space AND a buggy space. They are fantastic!

There should be pushchair spaces on buses.

Within reason Nailak but they reduce the number of seats. You may disagree with yourself a few years down the road.

And in any event existing buses are what they are and are not going to be scrapped "just like that". Even without a wheelchair-user if the bus is very full the buggy may have to be folded.

Troll!

I don't think the OP is necessarily BU. If there was genuinely no other space for her and the her mother on the bus (ie, all the seats plus standing room were full, not that just that it would be inconvenient for them to fold up the pushchairs) then I don't see why they should be asked to leave the bus. They wouldn't be asked to do so for an able-bodied person and therefore shouldn't, imo, be asked to do it for a wheelchair user. However if (as is more likely) it was possible to fold the pushchairs and travel elsewhere on the bus then of course OP is being completely unreasonable. I travel by bus daily with 3 children, including one in a pushchair, and happily fold my pushchair as and when needed, not just for wheelchair users but also for people with more awkward prams or smaller babies than mine, or sleeping babies of any age. It's just courtesy imo.

Nice that things have changed so much really. When my kids were small, wheelchair/pushchair spaces on buses were only just coming in, and didn't exist at all on the route I used most regularly. It was sling, or folded pushchair (up two steep steps with a baby under your arm, or a toddler who could barely walk), or you had to walk. Or take the car, my usual choice! What did wheelchair users do then I wonder?

StopRainingPlease They didn't use the buses. As you say - nice that things have changed so much.

pictish- LRT in Edinburgh have introduced the buggy space as well as a wheelchair space, which is great but they still require that in order to board, your buggy/pram must fold up. Which is still somewhat less than ideal if you don't happen to have the "right" sort of pram or are traveling with a very young baby. But if everybody employs a bit of common sense and goodwill to other users, then all would be fine.