In message ,
writes
In article 01c9c80f$742adac0$LocalHost@default, (Michael
R N Dolbear) wrote:

There's a few issues at play here. There does appear to be an
expectation amongst a significant number of buggy-wielding bus users
that they can - or should always be able to - get on a bus without
folding the buggy up. This is daft - those with kids in buggies should
be prepared to evict the little'un from said buggy and fold it up when
getting on the bus. I reckon it's also fair to say that babies in
prams should take priority over buggies - and of course wheelchair
users take priority over both (there is enough space in most buses for
a wheelchair and a buggy/pram though).

A parent, are you?

Well I'm not but I'll interject here anyway.......


Folding up a buggy containing a child who isn't yet
walking is far from simple.

I'm sure it's far from simple. However, it is sometimes *necessary*,
if the space is already occupied or if a wheelchair user needs to use
it.

There's an important distinction between "easy" and "necessary".


Especially out in the sticks with one bus an hour.
I would reiterate the story reported in the local press in North
Somerset of a driver on the 121 or 126 (each hourly) who allegedly
refused to wait *while* a mother folded a push chair as the space was
unavailable. That - if correct - is just plain bonkers. But for all
we know she might have refused to fold it.

These stories, even the ones reported here, have a tendency to get
mangled.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

In message ,
writes
In article 01c9c80f$742adac0$LocalHost@default,
(Michael R N Dolbear) wrote:

There's a few issues at play here. There does appear to be an
expectation amongst a significant number of buggy-wielding bus users
that they can - or should always be able to - get on a bus without
folding the buggy up. This is daft - those with kids in buggies
should be prepared to evict the little'un from said buggy and fold
it up when getting on the bus. I reckon it's also fair to say tha
t babies in prams should take priority over buggies - and of course
wheelchair users take priority over both (there is enough space in
most buses for a wheelchair and a buggy/pram though).

A parent, are you?

Well I'm not but I'll interject here anyway.......

Folding up a buggy containing a child who isn't yet
walking is far from simple.

I'm sure it's far from simple. However, it is sometimes
*necessary*, if the space is already occupied or if a wheelchair
user needs to use it.

There's an important distinction between "easy" and "necessary".


Especially out in the sticks with one bus an hour.
I would reiterate the story reported in the local press in North
Somerset of a driver on the 121 or 126 (each hourly) who allegedly
refused to wait *while* a mother folded a push chair as the space
was unavailable. That - if correct - is just plain bonkers. But
for all we know she might have refused to fold it.

These stories, even the ones reported here, have a tendency to get
mangled.

I could regale the group with the hassle my daughter has had trying to get
her daughter to a rural location for a support group of hers. Once she got
dumped by the side of a country road having been carried past her stop.
Eventually she got some sort of apology from Stagecoach.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
Ian Jelf wrote:

I'm sure it's far from simple. However, it is sometimes *necessary*

And if you have twins, as we do? They're not in a buggy now but I can
assure you that's there no way you can juggle two babies and fold a
large buggy up.

E.

In message , eastender
writes
In article ,
Ian Jelf wrote:

I'm sure it's far from simple. However, it is sometimes *necessary*

And if you have twins, as we do? They're not in a buggy now but I can
assure you that's there no way you can juggle two babies and fold a
large buggy up.

I did say that I thought things could be "far from simple".

The problem is, that various groups of people - your self included - can
always come up with particular circumstances why they can't follow
instructions or requests.

If you can't fold a (presumably double) buggy and look after two
babies.......what do you suggest as a solution? That twins always take
priority over children or wheelchair users already in the allocated
space? Does someone with three young children then "trump" you?

I understand the difficulty but sometimes things are - to repeat what I
wrote above - "necessary". Life isn't as simple or easy as we would
sometimes like it to be.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

In article ,
Ian Jelf wrote:


If you can't fold a (presumably double) buggy and look after two
babies.......what do you suggest as a solution? That twins always take
priority over children or wheelchair users already in the allocated
space? Does someone with three young children then "trump" you?

No, it's quite simple - if there's space you board. If the
buggy/wheelchair space is taken, you wait for the next one.

E.

eastender wrote:

No, it's quite simple - if there's space you board. If the
buggy/wheelchair space is taken, you wait for the next one.

How can you tell from the front of the bus?

In article ,
"Tim Roll-Pickering" wrote:

eastender wrote:

No, it's quite simple - if there's space you board. If the
buggy/wheelchair space is taken, you wait for the next one.

How can you tell from the front of the bus?

You can't usually get a double buggy in the front so you have to board
through the middle doors. On a bendy bus there's no such issue.

E.

In message , at 10:48:10
on Thu, 30 Apr 2009, eastender remarked:
How can you tell from the front of the bus?

You can't usually get a double buggy in the front so you have to board
through the middle doors.

Middle doors? None of the buses I ever catch have middle doors.

--
Roland Perry

No, it's quite simple - if there's space you board. If the
buggy/wheelchair space is taken, you wait for the next one.

How can you tell from the front of the bus?

You wait for the bus to stop first to allow for the possibility of
passengers with pushchairs alighting, and then you look through the doors
and windows. They tend to work quite well for that sort of thing ;-)

Although the drivers on my local bus route often seem to sail past
compulsory bus stops half empty presumably thinking they are full, their
knowledge of their loading becomes encyclopaedic when it comes to pushchairs
and buggies. So as soon as they pull up they'll let you know if they want
you to fold the buggy, use the middle doors or in exceptional cases not come
on at all. OK so some will only allow two buggies on even though the bays
can usually cope with three given cooperative fellow passengers and the more
modest size buggies and the bus is otherwise empty, but most are a bit more
flexible.

Going back to the OP, I was surprised to. Their are minor issues with the
design of buses and with a minority of drivers, the main problem is actually
the other passengers with buggies, and in particular those who don't use an
appropriate pushchair or buggy for public transport.

G.