Wheelchair woes and baby buggies

[MobilityCat]

As a wheelchair user I have had problems with buggy owners refusing to fold buggy and hold the baby. I've been left sitting in the rain because the person won't fold the buggy because "my babies asleep".
I 've seen buggies loaded with groceries and person holding the baby asleep in their arm. Occasionally someone will debus with the buggy to make the space available but it's rare. I know people are normally good and decent so what changes them on the bus?

I think a lot of people are assuming the buses run every 15 mins.
As I said above, ours are 4 times a day with a two hour wait in between.
It’s a shuttle service and it’s destination is a hospital. The full journey back and forth from a rural destination takes 1.5 hrs.

So... who gets the space on the last bus of the day? Does the mother with her buggy get off? What if she’s just been to the hospital with her ill child? How does she get home? One person is going to be left in a really difficult situation.

This is why a lot of people don’t rely on public transport. The situation is not always straight forward.

The problem is the frequency of the timetable and size of the bus.

buggies have paid...if you ask them to get off, give them a free ticket for the next service as the bus tickets are a big chunk of some people's weekly budget... and they have paid to be transported for a set distance.

but that was an explanation of why some people would not want to get off the buis and wait for the next. they may have missed one bus because they could not get on due to another buggy. they may miss thhe next one as there is already a buggy/wheelchair on, thus thye are unlikely to give up their space with no guarantee they will get the next one. some serrvices only run evey half hour, or hour even.

the main thing is there should be more spaces so that more buggies and wheelchairs can get on.

instead of arguing abolut the competing accesss of bugggies and wheelchairs, one should be arguing with the regulators, and bus companies for not providing adequate space.

@BlackeyedSusan

instead of arguing abolut the competing accesss of bugggies and wheelchairs, one should be arguing with the regulators, and bus companies for not providing adequate space.

Exactly this. Also a decent, more regular service would be nice.

@TheSunShinesBrighter

I think a lot of people are assuming the buses run every 15 mins. As I said above, ours are 4 times a day with a two hour wait in between. It’s a shuttle service and it’s destination is a hospital. The full journey back and forth from a rural destination takes 1.5 hrs.

So... who gets the space on the last bus of the day? Does the mother with her buggy get off? What if she’s just been to the hospital with her ill child? How does she get home? One person is going to be left in a really difficult situation.

This is why a lot of people don’t rely on public transport. The situation is not always straight forward.

The problem is the frequency of the timetable and size of the bus.

But it doesn't matter about the Mom, she can just walk home. That's what o was told on another thread - just walk!! It's her own fault for not petitioning for a buggy space on her bus, even if she's never used the service before. The default answer doesn't seem to be bus companies knowing they need more spaces which is patently obvious or any sort of compromise. On MN it just seems to be to exclude ALL parents with pushchairs because SOME parents with pushchairs are selfish

I'm quite old so folded the buggy before getting on the bus. My mil had a story of manhandling her toddler , large baby and folded push chair on in which as was the norm she passed baby to a seated woman and had to listen to him screaming until they all got off a few miles up the road .

It used to be the norm for someone on the bus to come and hold your baby while you got the folded buggy and shopping on the bus. God,I feel ancient

I'm quite old so folded the buggy before getting on the bus. My mil had a story of manhandling her toddler , large baby and folded push chair on in which as was the norm she passed baby to a seated woman and had to listen to him screaming until they all got off a few miles up the road

Family story. My aunt was juggling a folding pram and a screeching toddler on a very crowded bus. The toddler then grabbed some nearby woman's hair and it was a wig
It was mortifying but family still laughing about it for over 30 years now.

I thought wheelchairs were priority so if a wheelchair user wants on the bus peaks have to be moved or leave the bus.

@Indoctro

I thought wheelchairs were priority so if a wheelchair user wants on the bus peaks have to be moved or leave the bus.

The problem is drivers can't or won't enforce so people know if they say no then they won't have to

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

It used to be the norm for someone on the bus to come and hold your baby while you got the folded buggy and shopping on the bus. God,I feel ancient

And then we had a worldwide pandemic.

@roarfeckingroarr

If someone's baby is asleep, can't you get the next bus? Just a kind thing to do, especially when the baby is small and the mother is probably shattered.

Ffs really And what if there is another sleeping baby in the WHEELCHAIR SPACE Why can't the babys mum be kind and not make a wheelchair user wait for another bus.

Buses here have a space for wheelchairs and a space for a pram. You can have a wheelchair and a pram on the bus at the same time.

You can't have two prams on at the same time, but sometime you can at the driver's discretion. It's understood that one of the prams will either have to fold or get off.

When my DDs were at the pram stage, there were no spaces for either pram or wheelchair, I walked nearly everywhere at that time!

When my son was a toddler, he was immobile due to global development delay and hypermobility, he didn't walk until 2 and a half. Folding the buggy on a moving bus was awful as he couldn't sit without support. However, if I had a day ticket and could get on another bus I would just get off. A handful of times I only had a single ticket and basically just panicked, as I have quite bad social anxiety, mental health issues and possible asd and other people on the bus helped me out.

I always think people should accommodate wheelchair users as a priority, no one should be forced to wait in the rain when they don't have to. However, I've always appreciated wheelchair users being patient with me whilst I faffed around with the buggy and my son and apologised 6494 times. We all get drilled into about hidden disabilities so not trying to be patronising but honestly just people being kind and understanding was always something I was grateful for.

[quote SnottyLottie]@Whatwouldscullydo I definitely did. Before DS1 I was on a bus where a manic driver was whizzing around tight corners in a residential estate and a little old lady, who was very frail and had mobility issues, went flying off the front seat and went head first down the aisle. The driver just brushed it off and refused to stop until someone wanted to alight. Several people had to stop the bus and made calls to the bus depot there and then. I made a complaint when I got to the bus station. Got back on the same bus a couple of days later and it was the same driver. And that’s just one incident I reported. I don’t think the bus companies care unless they’re physically aggressive. I’ve heard from others that they’re hard push for drivers because they deal with so much abuse on a daily basis.[/quote]
Can confirm. I have seen similar - people falling over when the bus driver was acting like a boy racer.

In your case @monsterflake the pram was like a wheelchair you shouldn’t had to fold it

So instead of being an entitled bugger I also had a cheap buggy that folds easily one handed and small for bus use as well as a sling so I can pop baby from pram into sling and then have 2 hands free to carry the folded pram on board the bus or put it into the storage area.
If you use buses this is what you do, you use equipment practical for it.

This.

Anything else is ableist rubbish. If it's the last bus, bloody FOLD your buggy. If you rely on public transport, get a pram/buggy which folds easily. Organise yourself.

If someone's baby is asleep, can't you get the next bus? Just a kind thing to do, especially when the baby is small and the mother is probably shattered.

Babies grow up (we hope). Just imagine having to use a wheelchair all the time and dealing with people like you every day. "Shattered" doesn't quite cover it.

Some of the posters on this thread are shocking. No wonder children & adults with disabilities are still bullied & abused.

@roarfeckingroarr

If someone's baby is asleep, can't you get the next bus? Just a kind thing to do, especially when the baby is small and the mother is probably shattered.

@roarfeckingroarr As I've already said I am always happy to negotiate, if it's one mum, I have a small chair for bus use which will slot in nicely. Two mums and one baby sleeping other mum must move. In the big buses I've parked next to two buggies in the longer space. When I'm in it alone and the driver is telling a mum they can't board with their buggy I call out " There's space here!" and they shuffle the buggy in next to me.

Just as my last comment as blood pressure can’t take any more.

A- Most parents can push a pram 20min walk home. Yes it’s pain in ass but can be done if last bus etc etc

B- Manuel wheelchair users may not be able to push themselves that far, up hills or be to tired at certain points in the day.

C-Power wheelchairs can easily run out charge mine does about 5miles total in a day. It takes 8 hours to charge so can’t top it out like you can a phone. There is no wheelchair AA if you run out battery you are stuck.

If you have even been B or C in pain in rain and dark this is why you look at A and ask them just consider you have no other option.

@TheSunShinesBrighter

I think a lot of people are assuming the buses run every 15 mins. As I said above, ours are 4 times a day with a two hour wait in between. It’s a shuttle service and it’s destination is a hospital. The full journey back and forth from a rural destination takes 1.5 hrs.

So... who gets the space on the last bus of the day? Does the mother with her buggy get off? What if she’s just been to the hospital with her ill child? How does she get home? One person is going to be left in a really difficult situation.

This is why a lot of people don’t rely on public transport. The situation is not always straight forward.

The problem is the frequency of the timetable and size of the bus.

@TheSunShinesBrighter Surely if it's the last bus people will try to accommodate everyone and if the buggy doesn't fold it can be put in the passage and those previously standing there could shuffle in around me. I once had to connect with another bus, the last one of the day and my bus was delayed so I was dropped off at the side of the road in the dark where I sat for several hours until a police patrol car stopped and offered me a lift home.

Mum was a wheelchair user and I was amazed how many people felt buggies trump wheelchairs. Lots of entitlement out there. It was awful.

@Babygotblueyes

Mum was a wheelchair user and I was amazed how many people felt buggies trump wheelchairs. Lots of entitlement out there. It was awful.

I think a lot of people can’t see past the view that everyone has the right to get from A to B. Which is obviously true. But they fail to recognise that some people only have one way to make that journey and others have options.

Less than a week ago the selfish bastard insults were still tossed around about non mask wearers. All granny killers and won't someone think of the vulnerable.

This week the vulnerable and their parent's/carers are asking for consideration when it comes to public transport. Instead of the the outrage you would expect nope, it's what do you expect us to do. Why should we have to get off buses. Some give and take. Parents are tired don't you know.

I was 17 when I had my eldest. No internet to ask for recommendations. No friends to ask for recommendations. Every time I could get into a baby store when pregnant I tested the pushchair and used one of their display dolls/teddies to practice folding etc. I knew I would need the bus and they all had steps to get on. By the time I had my youngest, the internet was around. Even easier to find a transport suitable buggy by reading things like the weight and discarding anything over what I was comfortable with. Two handed fold, next. Lack of description onto the next site. Wasn't sure if transport friendly still read the reviews and any that allowed questions I asked. It's not exactly rocket science.

Wheelchair users don't have that choice. Many are 'lucky' to have the padded seat molded. The basic ones really aren't comfortable unlike your baby in their buggy. Unlike a buggy there's not much available to keep the person warm and dry when it's pissing it down.

See how parents are really bothered not one can be bothered to campaign for additional space. Wheelchair users campaigned for their rights to be taken into consideration. And they still have a long way to go. They didn't wait around for these to be simply handed to them. They didn't appropriate something that others were already using. I wonder if they are still thinking why they bothered as they still cannot go anyway or have to rely on expensive cabs, assuming there are any in their area that can accommodate a wheelchair.

It sounds like there needs to be a nationwide policy that wheelchair users take priority. This is already the case in London and I'm surprised it's not the case elsewhere.

Alongside this, more help should be given to mums to fold down their buggies. It would be a start if bus drivers were told in no uncertain terms that they should not drive off at speed when there are unrestrained toddlers and babies rolling about in the aisles or on the seats. Instead, they need to wait for the mother to find a seat for the children, fold down the buggy (which may take longer if done one-handed holding a baby) and gather up any shopping or bags. It is not the work of a few seconds.