Buggies must be folded by law, if a wheelchair user wishes to board

[BerniceBroadside]

I know this can be a hot topic so thought I'd share that stagecoach have new signs on their buses stating that buggies must be folded by law if a wheelchair user wishes to board. Let's hope it's actually enforced.

That's great news that the new signs are up, hopefully it will make things clearer for the fuckwits people who don't understand wheelchairs have priority

The signs mean nothing if the drivers do not enforce then. Let's hope that the drivers so their bit and the management/ complaints department back up the drivers .

And please let the drivers throw the idiots who refuse off the bus

For the first time ever I got on a bus which already had a lady in a large fully motorised wheelchair and a lady with a baby in one of those carriage type prams. I've a double P&T Nav with two babies in it. I doubt if the other lady could've folded her pram and mine would have taken up more room folded, but with a bit of manoeuvring we all managed to fit fine and comfortably.

I've heard a lot of people panic about getting on buses with their babies when they see things like this. Of course a wheelchair user has priority over pushchairs but in general, buses can accommodate a couple of hefty prams along with a wheelchair.

Most Stagecoach buses can take 2 or 3 pushchairs and a wheelchair quite easily these days.

Some heavily laden buggies just can't be folded safely and in those cases the owner should be given a free ticket for the next bus and asked to vacate the space.

This currently doesn't happen and I can understand people being annoyed at having to pay twice which is why some get aggro.

Unless the drivers enforce it there is still a problem. We do have stickers stating that wheelchairs have priority.

I managed to fit DDs adults wheelchair and someone elses pram into the parking space, but it involved taking the foot plates off and tucking her feet under the wheelchair.

There was no way the pram owner was going to put the pram down and make it easier for me, the passengers complained about the driver letting me on with a wheelchair, and the driver sat there whilst a queue built up behind me, whilst I tried politely to get the idiot to collapse his pram.

For my troubles the idiot told his girlfriend that if I was a bloke he would have smacked me in the mouth.

They complained?
Good god. It's unbelievable that we need a law these days to get people to artificially have manners.

Not your problem other people are idiots who get on buses with massive tanks and can't collapse them. Get the down to Argos and get a stroller ffs.

How big are stagecoach buses then?

Most buses around here are Arriva and if the person in the wheelchair is positioned correctly...ie with their backs against the large cushion on the wall, there's just about enough room for a small stroller buggy to slot in by their feet.

This is good news. It should be blooming obvious really, but it's good news either way.

That said where I live I have only seen one wheelchair on a bus. I live in Essex. (Accident of when or which I've caught I'm sure) We all reorganised for her. Then discovered that because of the angle of the pole her wheel chair wouldn't fit the space. It wasn't a big chair nor did she seem to have trouble manoeuvring it. Just the pole was in the wrong place/had a bend at the wrong point.

It was .....dunno the best word tbh exasperating (?) on her behalf and it hadn't occurred to me would be an issue! Is it often? Am curious. This thread made me think of it again.

it isn't fair that if you got off to vacate the space you would have to pay to get on another bus. I would collapse if I could but if its a pram with carrycot its difficult.

It sure makes me glad I have a car.

Minnie, we have problem poles on our buses, the trick is to move the chair up the aisle and then reverse into the space. Which is fun when no one wants to move.

I agree it's the onward travel situation that can make it difficult for people to 'just agree' to get off the bus. Of course wheelchairs have priority and buggy users should vacate the space if needed, but they shouldn't be financially penalised for doing so. As PP said, they might not have enough money on them to get home and buses are v expensive these days. Yes buggy users do need to be aware that they may be asked to leave but other bus users with large suitcases or shopping trollies aren't ever asked to move, I don't really know what the difference is as they are all bulky items that take up extra space.

The easiest solution to this problem would be for a woman with a buggy to automatically be issued with a "day rider" ticket - so if she needs to get off a bus for a wheelchair user, she doesn't have to pay again.

The other thing is that people need TIME and if they're alone HELP to juggle collapsing a pram whilst managing the baby too.

Yes it is simple manners on the part of the pram user to fold if possible. However it is also simple manners for people to treat them nicely and offer help.

The buses around here could easily accommodate my double p&t plus a couple of other pushchairs but they wont.

Its 1 double or 2 singles or a wheel chair

Surely if someone with a buggy has to get off a bus, the driver would give them a ticket so they don't have to pay to get on the next one? Same as if your bus breaks down and you have to get another one.

I find it sad that this has to be spelled out. I've been on many buses where an argument breaks out between a buggy user and a wheelchair user, with the former behaving as if they're just as entitled as the latter. What on earth makes people think like that?

On our single decker buses you could get a wheelchair in the larger space and possibly a small buggy opposite where there are two single seats facing each other, or three buggies in total. Less on the double deckers.

The other day I had to stand up at the front simply because I couldn't get past the guy with his huge trolley parked in the buggy bay. It wasn't a shopping trolley but some sort of contraption (complete with a plastic bread tray on top) for hawking his flashing LED tat from. There were also two buggies on the bus. Quite often, if there's two buggies on already, the drivers don't allow a third if it's a big one. And most parents around here will check before they board that there's space. I don't think trolley guy should have gotten on that bus at all. When one of the mothers with a buggy got off, three of us had to get off the bus so she had room to get off before we could get back on (but we could still barely get past him).

The onward travel thing is a good idea, though most people I know get a day pass unless they are only going one way because it works out a lot cheaper.

Our stagecoach buses have room for a buggy at the foot of a wheelchair and drop down seats opposite, so plenty of room usually.

Apart from when occupied by shopping trolleys.

Aah shopping troll lies totAl stress

Where i live there are no spaces for pushchairs or wheelchairs. Where you get of the bus there is a large standing area and people use that... But most of the time just fold down their pushchairs and carry the kids making way for just wheelchairs. Buses are not a gods given right but a priviledge. People take them way to for granted.

Buses should be designed with more storage space, I would have no problem with folding a buggy to board a bus but sometimes there is nowhere to put said folded buggy and it's hard to hold onto it along with toddler and shopping.

I think half the problem now is that prams are a fashion accessory. They are expensive which puts people off buying the parents buying a second light weight stroller, and they all come with a million accessories like matching change bags and different seats etc. They all look lovely and I'm sure provide comfort to the baby but are bloody huge and impractical if you use public transport regularly. I rely on buses so ease was the factor for me. I didn't care if looked expensive or fancy and had the accessories. Because sleeping new born or squirmy toddler, it's polite to collapse for someone who CANNOT just move or get out and collapse the chair.

What do you do then if you have disabled dc who uses a buggy like I do? Dcs look fine but in fact are not. Quite a few times I've had to justify myself as to why I can't fold in front of a busload of people.