to think that people should have moved so I could get on the bus with a pram, grrrrr

[HappyNewYearFeet06]

Sorry to rant but it annoyed me and I let them know.

The bus turned up and I had been waiting patiently. However the bus stopped further down from where it usually does so people who had only just turned up at the bus stop got on before me. Anyway, I showed my ticket and got on but there were people sitting in the 2 spaces that are there for wheelchair/prams. There were plenty of seats nearer to the back of the bus but they wouldn't budge. The driver asked if I could fold the pram. I couldn't, its huge and I had baby and shopping too so it would have been impossible unless I had suddenly sprouted 20 arms!.

The driver and another gentleman suggested people move but they just ignored them. So I ranted out loud about rude people and had to get off of the bus again. I had to get a taxi home as another bus is an age away. The taxi cost £8.20 and I already had bought a return for the bus.

Grrrr, sorry gabbled on but it annoyed me.

AIBU to be annoyed?? Should I send a ranting letter to the bus company or the local newspaper ranting about laxy arsed people that can't move to the back of the bus. (Sorry, hot and bothered!)

joash, they are not just wheelchair friendly. There are spaces on some buses that wheelchairs would not possibly fit in.
I don't know what particular bus the OP got on but some buses do have specific folding seats for buggys, as well as a wheelchair space.

I know what its like... same thing happened to me and I was obviously due (not to mess with ) I called or shouted to the people in thr pram/wheelchait section and asked them to move so I could put my pram there. they were obviously idiots to wait to be asked watching me struggle with a pram and shopping but when asked they did move and I thanked them politely and quietly. If i dont have much on my pram and I see a mum get on with a beast of a pram I always offer to fold mine so they can get on.

should read "i was obviously due on" - my period... sure you all got that anyway

i dont know about welsh buses, but some somerset ones have separate buggy and whelchair spaces so clearly buggy friendly

as they should be- since there are more buggies about than wheelchairs it makes sense to be able to serve both

On our buses there are signs where the fold down seats are saying "please give up these seats for wheelchairs and pushchairs" I think the buses were designed for both wheelchairs and pushchairs.

madmuggle don't be so superior
buses are adapted for pushchairs and wheelchairs equality means just that.

I have a volo
no shopping I'm on my way home from workIt's exactly your kind of 'children don't count' attitide that has them demonised, locked up and living the most miserable lives in Europe (you're probably going to come back and say well their misery is nothing compared to famine victims (which of course it isn't) so it doesn't count so we shouldn't care about it and shouldn't try to do anything about it)

Have you not heard about the deaf people wanting to select deaf embryos?

I've only been on a bus once with Tom and had his travel system. My mum was with me and it was just manageable. I think my car must have been having it's MOT or my dad was using it.

I had to use the train last week to get to work (and drop Tom off at the PIL) and the same seating issue happens there. You cannot stand in the aisles, or the doors if at some stops you can get off the other side of the train (well you can if you are not laden with goodies). There are seats with space for luggage/buggys/wheelchairs. Someone did offer to move once so me, DP & Tom could sit together (I think they didn't like Tom staring at them!).

The OP bus situation, were any of the people who had 'pushed in' in the spaces for wheelchairs/buggys? I would have been raging and I hope I would have stood my ground.

SIL gets the bus to work everyday and complains about the golden oldies and their shopping bags. She says they shouldn't be allowed on during rush hour.

I would feel guilty if someone in a wheelchair couldn't get on. I would take Tom out and fold the buggy but I have no idea what he'll be like. Probably a nightmare!

I would have asked them to move in an extremely firm voice (and have done several times). It's the only way. Generally people are pretty good round my way though. I usually only have problems when I go to the posher parts of London where people don't use buses frequently enough to understand the etiquette.

(Have to agree with others about a smaller buggy though - must confess to irritation at monstrous contraptions that take up the entire space when you could squeeze three of mine in there. You can get Volos dead cheap on ebay).

The spaces on buses are indeed for wheelchairs first and foremost - buggies can use them if they are available but if a wheelchair user gets on you have to shift. I interviewed London Transport about this when they brought in these buses (and spent a day travelling around with a lady in a wheelchair).

Those buses are designed to meet the requirements of disability legislation. Not having to fold pushchairs is just a nice bonus for the rest of us when the space is not required for its real purpose.

I'm echoing the sling suggestions. A sling and a rucksack make public transport so much easier.
I used a pushchair on buses and trains with my first baby before I discovered proper slings for older babies, and it was a nightmare.
Never again, if I can help it.

Edam anniemac it's not obvious
If the bus is full and I want to get on I have to wait
Should be the same for everyone
The seats at the front are supposed to be for old/infirm etc, doesn't stop 16 yr olds sitting on them
buses are supposed to be for people to get around doesn't stop school kids pissing about on them and causing emergency stops etc now they travel for free.

Write to the local rag, but not the bus company. The driver did try to help, but they are generally helpless in these situations. He would just get hauled over the coals over something he had no control over. On the other hand...If loads of people read about their selfishnesswell, that could make them think a bit more next time...maybe

Ooh I do feel your pain this is one of my soapbox issues, in your situation I would have deffo asked, actually demanded people move. Unfortunatley the bus route where I live is mostly non low floor buses which is a mare with 4yo and a not reliably walking 1yo. I have been known to give grumpy bus drivers the baby to hold lol, that pleases them them no end.

Although that was when they refused to help me with bags/pushchair. I did buy a relatively easy fold pushchair (mclaren techno) but it's still bloody heavy and awkward with a large wriggly toddler in the other arm. Mamas and papas are not your friend with regard to buses go for the lightest easiest fold pram you can find. Pensioners are a blessing or a curse, they are either lovely and bore you rigid about the great-grandchildren or pushy in monstrosities that think the world owes them a debt of gratitude for reaching 65.

But then again if a person with a small baby gets on a low floor bus and I'm with Dh I will fold the pushchair if there is no space. other parents can be just as ignorant sometimes.

Actually ignore my pensioner rant that was a bit mean, I'm just bitter because my mum died just before pensionable age and my dad well before, makes one not the most receptive

1dilemma, it is obvious. Those spaces are for wheelchairs. If they are not occupied by a wheelchair everyone else should move out of there. That applies to all passengers, including people with pushchairs or shopping trolleys. That's what the bus was designed for and that's what the regulations say.

Makes ethical sense, too. A mother with a buggy is far more mobile than a wheelchair-user. She can walk, call a cab, grab a lift or even wait for the next ruddy bus rather than selfishly shoving the person the space was designed for out of the way.

Actually, the lady I accompanied avoids the buses at rush hour as she just finds it too stressful/embarrassing to try to get on an overcrowded bus. Which is sad, because it means there are lots of things she just can't go to. Like evening classes, swimming sessions, or just getting a full-time job.

(And the bloody council have shoved her in a fourth floor flat, with a step at the entrance, so she can only get in and out of her own home if she has someone to accompany her.)

i got on the bus after a stressful shoe shopping trip with teen ds.....there was woman with buggy and a baby who was foreign9i found this out when i asked her to move) and she was stood in a place where 3 buggies of similar type could be .......young mum with new baby gets on old lady with shopping trolley gets on - no room lots of shouting - i need to get home ....ok says i .....u park there to new mum,you take 7 yr old child out of buggy collapse buggy and sit there to foreign lady who didnt want to but did ...old lady you sit here with your trolley next to you as i shunt 2 teenage girls off the disabled seats- hurray i got a round of applause!! bus driver refused to accept my fare- ds was mortified .

i dont know why common courtesy doesnt happn in these situations when my eldest 2 ds were in prams you couldnt get on the bus without collapsing pram carrying heavy bags nd a baby whilst looking for change to pay your fare and noone helped then -ive walked many a long mile home.

not read all the thread but couldn't she have just folded the pushchair up? i know its not as convenient as just wheeling it on but the wheelchair person couldn't fold her wheelchair up and the mother could fold her pushchair up.

what i used to do was put any shopping i had on the bus first and ask someone to hold ds. then i would get back off and fold up the pushchair (which folded in 2 bits) and get back on with those and put them in the luggage bit. sometimes i would have my 2 year old cousin with me too. i would have him on reins so i didn't have to hold his hand and would tell him to wait on the bus with ds and nice man/lady whilst i got the pushchair.

7 year old child?
I don't think I'd say anything to anyone who had a seven year old in the buggy as it's likely there would some kind of disability so IMO, just as entitled as someone in a wheelchair.

I still can't believe anyone could possibly think that the wheelchairs should wait though. The buses on my route do have pushchair spaces, one side fits one wheelchair or tow pushchairs, the other side just fits a pushchair, not a wheelchair, so IMO the list of priority goes.

1.Wheelchair/Child in buggy with disability.
2.New babies and buggy/prams.
3.Toddlers and buggy.
4.Elderly people with shopping trolleys.
5.Elderly people without any luggage.
6.Everyone else.

NA, there was no wheelchair person on OP's bus, just her pram.
Depending on where you live you will have drivers who are able to leave their cabs and who will help, but as an ex London bus driver, I certainly would not ever have done that - far too dangerous(speaking as someone who has been attacked in the job).

With passengers, whether able bodied, childless or otherwise, I think it all comes down respect for other people and unfortunately these days, most people don't want to think about others. I remember the days when youngsters would stand up on the bus to let anyone even remotely older than them sit down. Now though, everone just watches people struggle. I was very heavily pg with Ds and on a London bus which was quite busy and genuinely having trouble keeping my balance and everyone just looked out of the window. No respect or compassion.
Ds is almost 10 and he rarely travels on public transport, but when he has and if he does he has and bloody well will(respectively)stand up to let elderly and pg women(at very least)sit down. It's what you teach your kids surely?

i was talking about the scenario in kimi's post.

Agree with VS's priority list.