Buses, strollers, and wheelchairs

[simplytoopretty]

If the space that is meant for wheelchairs is taken up by strollers, what is expected of the bus driver if a wheelchair-bound person wants to get on the bus?

Comments

[lapiccolina]

I think that space is initially reserved for wheelchair bound people FIRST. So frankly, I think those with strollers should have gotten off. I get the whole baby issue, but at the same time, I think that area gives wheelchairs the priority.

[simplytoopretty]

See, I'm torn. On one hand, the space is for wheelchairs, and there's little signs that say you need to leave those seats if a person in a wheelchair gets on. But it says nothing about strollers, and I'm just not sure I feel it's fair to kick someone who is on the bus with a young child off the bus to clear that area.

It rather sucks for either group. If you're the person who gets asked to leave the bus because of your stroller, it sucks. If you're the person that doesn't get to get on the bus because of your wheelchair, it sucks. And it really sucks because, at the time it was, the bus only runs every half hour, and we were only half-way to the end destination of the bus.

[lapiccolina]

I think for me, it boils down to the whole issue of wheelchairs. I mean, it's harder for them to move around then someone with a stroller. I feel like, that area is designated FOR THEM, so when they need it, they should have it.

[simplytoopretty]

I can see what you're saying.

[jaydenbell]

I agree with lapiccolina . Though it is a bit unfair for mothers with babies to have to get off if they were there first (especially this time of year), that space is reserved for wheelchairs. And although the world is getting better about being more accessible to wheelchairs/people with disabilities, the fact is, there is still much less public transportation for people in wheelchairs. There are fewer bus/train routes, not every bus/train is accessible, so those folks have to go extra distances to get to an accessible stop sometimes

[simplytoopretty]

I think it would have been less an issue if the bus on the route ran more often at that time of day. The bus had only standing room when we got to that stop, and the next bus wasn't for half an hour

[lilbreck]

I know, I butting in on a conversation, please forgive me. However, speaking as a mother of a boy under a year, there is no real need for a stroller that large. You can either use a collapsible stroller, or they do make baby slings for parents/adults to 'wear' the babies. Basically, there's no real excuse for people to be taking up spaces meant for wheelchairs.

Now, I'd feel differently if the bus were full and all seats were filled with actual people. However, strollers don't count as people, and it's basically one person taking up the space of two unnecessarily.

What it boils down to, for me, is that it's avoidable for the parents taking up the wheelchair space, so they should leave as apposed to making the people in wheelchairs wait when their need for the spaces are unavoidable.

Hopefully I didn't just type a bunch of gibberish.

[simplytoopretty]

It's fine, and there's wasn't any gibberish.

I suppose my issue is the desire to have someone removed from the bus. I get what you're saying about strollers, and the situation would have gone much better if the strollers could have been folded up, but they couldn't. I suppose, for me, as a fairly regular bus rider, I wouldn't want to be kicked off the bus to make room for someone else, not after I've paid for the bus and especially not when the bus only runs every half hour.

[marikology]

This is a tough call. I admit that I am very unsympathetic to parents and all their baby junk. I don't think they should get special privileges. I think that if the bus has a space designated for wheelchairs, it should be used for that purpose, because it is a lot easier to maneuver a stroller than a wheelchair. But the woman ruined her cause by having a fit and making rude remarks.

[simplytoopretty]

I guess, for me, since we allow the strollers on the bus, they have a "right" to be there and to not be kicked off, just like I would feel I have a "right" to be on the bus after I've paid for my transfer. I wouldn't want to get kicked off the bus if the bus was full (so no room for those sitting in the seats where the wheelchairs can go to stand on the bus) and someone in a wheelchair wanted on. Arguably I could walk but I wouldn't feel that was fair. But, either way, someone isn't getting treatment that they feel is fair.

She also told the driver she was going to have him fired. I don't think he appreciated being threatened.