In message of Wed, 21 Nov 2007
09:06:47 in uk.transport.london, Helen Deborah Vecht
writes
Some pram-pushers are aggressively territorial :-(
We've had trouble getting through the bus, wheelchair folded, when the
aisle is blocked by a buggy-pusher. Quite often, it's difficult to
assert our needs without 'offending ethnicity'.

Few will/can fold their all-terrain buggies (though I can understand
those who don't wish to wake a sleeping babe) especially when encumbered
with loads of shopping.

My wheelchair folds flat quickly and I can transfer to an ordinary seat.
However, I weigh *much* more than a small child, so lifting into a bus
is very different to boarding with a buggy.


I am outraged by your treatment and trust you will complain.
Unfortunately, you will probably get no more than a facile apology.

The following from
www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Getting_around_London.pdf may help:
"All of London's 8,000 buses are now low-floor, wheelchair accessible
vehicles. The ramps on all buses must be in full working order at all
times. Any bus with a defective ramp is taken out of service, so you are
assured of full accessibility at all times." Please assert YOUR rights;
MY council tax pays for them.

The following from
www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/conditions-of-carriage-07-sept.pdf
seems relevant: "13.2.2. Wheelchair users have priority over everyone
else for use of the wheelchair space, since this
is the only place in which they can travel safely. If someone in a
wheelchair wishes to board, and the wheelchair space is occupied by
standing passengers or buggies, standing passengers will be asked by the
driver to make room if possible, and buggy users will be asked to fold
them and put them in the luggage space or keep them by their side."

PLEASE tool yourself to get your rights. I may need those rights and
your work will help. When I board an underground train and see someone
in severe need of a seat, I find the following, spoken loudly, works: "A
lady/gentleman needs a seat here!". Murphy's Law means the person often
refuses the seat because he/she is leaving at the next station. Murphy
also causes some people to offer me a seat on assessing my age and
fitness.
--
Walter Briscoe