2 strollers per bus

[GingerBeverage]

How many times have you been told you can't get on a bus because there are already 2 strollers on board?
I'd have thought that any analysis of London bus users would highlight that people with strollers are some of the biggest users of the service.
Would it be SO terrible to have a little more space for us, and for wheelchair users?

@ffswhatnext
Brilliantly put. I completely agree. X

@ffswhatnext not me specifically butme within the class of buggy pushing mom.

We've had new buses in the last few years, def think the wheelchair space has got better altho the actual aisle is marginally narrower

Maybe they should charge for a non folded buggies?
This could only work if there was somewhere to put a folded buggy. But I don't agree with it as it discriminates against disabled parents who can't fold. There would have to be a scheme for disabled parents, a pass or something. Disabled people can get a free bus pass now can't they so that could just cover the buggy as well.

@1forsorrow - having hip problems myself - I think it's because they tend to be higher so easier to sit on and get up again. That's awful she suffered abuse. I think you are right, that does ring a bell. She was so obviously ill, she was out on the bus shopping a fortnight before she died and I bet she didn't weigh 5 stone plus two walking sticks. Stubborn/bloody minded/strong willed take your pick but she was fighting till the end.

Don't know what went wrong with the bold there.

Well just when I thought it couldn’t get more ridiculous... on the bus today with a mother and her baby aged no more than 18 months that took baby out of stroller pram and sat in the priority seat with the baby next to her, watching some kids program on the iPad.

I’ve never known such brass neck behaviour

@hoxtonbabe I agree thry should have moved back a seat, but possibly wanted to keep an eye on purse etc. The key qn is was the other priority seat in use and did anyone else need the space where her buggy was? I catch buses where thst would be fine, and I've just had one drive past me without stopping where it clearly wouldn't be

@Sleeping

The thing is There isn’t any need to have a baby taking up a whole seat regardless of if it was needed or not, even if she wasn’t in a priority seat the baby doesn’t need its own seat. I wouldn’t mind if as she saw it getting busier she put the baby on her lap but she was quite happy to stay put, even as I board the bus although it wasn’t packed but there were no seats either and another pram (that did have a child in it) was next to her.

If you’re not going to keep the child in the pram then at least fold it up, so then someone else can use the space, she didn’t have any shopping and her bag was with her so just taking a space up not only in the buggy area but with the seating too.

Just plain inconsiderate and I must admit I’ve not seen that level of selfishness in years and even then it was on a quieter bus or at least with another pram space

Yeah that's why I asked, it wouldn't register in a quiet service but I've asked the driver to fetch someone from upstairs to collapse an empty buggy before so I could get on

@1forsorrow - that is so sad. I have a disabled bus pass and the amount of times they zoom off before I have been able to sit down! You would think they would see the disabled pass and give you a bit of consideration. I try to remember to ask them to let me sit down but I often forget.

I've also sat in the priority seat due to my disability and heard people behind moaning that I should leave those seats for the elderly.

UndertheCedartree, the sad thing was that she had campaigned for years to get the bus service so those young parents who tried to force her out of the seat wouldn't have had a bus to get on without her.

@1forsorrow - she sounds like a special lady

Widdlindiddlin I completely disagree. Many buses have a separate pushchair bay to a wheel chair bay so why should they have to fold? Lone parent of twins, triplets, quads maybe? Why should they struggle no one plans multiple babies. Your lack of sympathy says more about you than any parent I've ever met. For the record all my children are out of pushchairs but I always folded/moved if a wheelchair came up but I would avoid the wheelchair bay

As a wheelchair user I face frequent hostility from buggy owners and passengers who park or stand in the wheelchair space and refuse to move. Some times the child is carried because the buggy is used to carry shopping. Buggies should be refused entry to the bus unless folded.

This is one of the reasons I am glad we moved away from London. It would be impossible for me to fold my pram, with a baby and a young toddler, one in the pushchair and one in the bassinet attachment.

You do have my sympathy and my comments were very one sided. I have also been in my chair and heard the driver refusing a mum with buggy. I pointed out to the driver that there was room for her and he allowed her on and she thanked me. If we use a bit of give and take we can avoid the mutual hostility. I’m glad you don’t have to compromise where you now live.

Buggies fold why would the seats have to. Lazy people. And yes I've been there with baby and bags and a pram. Get on with it.

@TerrorCat in London, like many people, we used public transport to get around. Now we live somewhere where we can drive, so from that point if view it is easier. Just to be clear, I would absolutely move/get off the bus for a disabled person. There would be no argument from me. My issue is with the design of the bus. I think they should be able to accommodate both more easily.

@MomToTwoBabas why is it lazy to say it just isn't logistically possible with a 20 month old and an 8 week old?

Maybe it's different elsewhere, but in London the drivers really aren't keen to give you time to fold your buggy. They start off very quickly and then you need to keep hold of your child to stop them flying across the bus while you're struggling with the buggy. It's really very dangerous.

Think only answer for most parents with more than one is to drive. Feel sorry for those who have to rely on public transport.

Ok, I'm an old fart, but how did people manage when you literally couldn't get a pram on a bus unless it was folded (pole down the middle of the doorway, no kneeling buses or ramps, 3 steps onto the bus?

We folded up the pram or walked. Harrumph, rant over.

Wheelchairs (Invalid Carriages) were invented 1655, trains were invented 1805, buses were invented 1830. Commuter trains are not too bad, except for when the wheelchair space is directly facing the toilet. Mainline trains can be awful with some stations and train doors Inaccessible. London Underground was invented 1863 and is still largely inaccessible. Buses are still poorly designed with a pole halfway across the space making navigation difficult. Two hundred years since the 1800’s and we still don’t have a good accessible public transport system

More space for wheelchair and pram users would be at the expense of the back door and/or lower deck seating. The back door is important for passenger flow and it would be counter-intuitive to reduce the space for passengers on a transport system designed to carry as many passengers as possible.
I went to London by train last year and had to use a bus. Was gobsmacked to see buses with back doors. Must be over 30 years since we've had those in the West Midlands.

@Mochudhu again, how can you fold up a buggy if you have two very small children?
Also, how do you walk if you have to cover long distances? For example, I used to live in Kilburn and work in Knightsbridge, where our kids would've been in daycare if I was still in London and still working. How in earth would it be possible to walk there and back each day with two kids needing feeding/changing etc???