Your opinion about baby strollers on buses?
In the past few years, baby strollers have gotten larger and larger in size. When I was a kid, or even a teenager (I’m 25 now) they used to be little seats on wheels. Now they are portable beds with multiple storage units. I understand people want babies to be safe, and these larger strollers offer that, but all reasons aside, you have to agree baby strollers are significantly larger than they used to be 10, 15 years ago.
My hometown is one that is very blue collar, and the public bus system is heavily relied upon by many people. They are always packed during peak hours (people standing) and usually never under half capacity. When people bring their baby strollers on the bus, there is no designated area for them and they literally take up the entire aisle. People have great difficulty getting by them (especially with bags or if they are elderly) and they take up a good 4 or 5 spots where people could stand (during peak hours, those people have to wait for next bus)
So my question is what is the solution? I know families with babies need the bus too, and a stroller for when they get off, but they are taking up space of 4-5 people and often forcing other riders to get the next bus. Should they use smaller strollers for the bus? Let people be inconvenienced because they have a right to the bus as well?
I am curious of your opinion/solution for this problem. Thanks!
i agree the buses should have designated spots for strollers but keep in mind a city can’t change its entire fleet of buses in a few years, or even a decade
vienna v, you are delusional. re-read my entire question before you say asinine things.
February 21st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I believe that baby strollers should be allowed on public access vehicles.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:12 am
If there’s a demand then buses should have space for them.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:44 am
have strollers available in key places so that no one has to tote a stroller around at all
February 27th, 2009 at 11:00 am
You should be allowed on the bus but becuase you are taking up more space you should have to pay more.
March 1st, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Well for one thing, I think it’s stupid that somewhere with such busy buses doesn’t have a designated area for baby strollers and the likes!
I’m not sure what you could do about it though.. maybe the parents could take the kid out of the stroller, fold up the stroller [if it's foldable] and hold the kid on their knee till they need to get off? That’s not very practical either I guess, I couldn’t think of anything else :/
March 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 am
This drives me absolutely crazy. I think people need to invest in those harness things that let them carry their children on their backs and chests. It makes much more sense than taking up the space four or five people. Either that, or get a babysitter. There’s no need to take your kids all over the place, especially during rush hour.
I’m glad someone else is angered by this.
If you have Facebook, join this No Strollers group:
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:36 am
yeah… so?
March 3rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
I understand your frustration, but these people and their children have just as much right to use the city transportation as anyone else. They should use common courtesy, and collapse the stroller and hold the child to take up less space, but that’s not going to happen. There should be a designated area, but that’s not going to happen either.
If people are having to wait for the next bus because the first one to come is full (of strollers or not), then you should start a petition to increase service during that time frame. Try to put the frustration into solutions to the problem, because just complaining about things that are out of your control won’t improve anything. Contact the bus company and ask how you can go about getting an increase in service for those routes during peak times. They just may do it.
March 4th, 2009 at 7:18 am
I take the bus every so often and one time a woman brought a stroller on with her but she was able to collapse it and slide it into the seat with her. Her stroller was not that large though, so this probably would not be a good solution for everybody.
Maybe they could start making buses with storage underneath, like a Greyhound, but I’m sure that would take a lot more time.
March 4th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Where I live most bus drivers ask the mother to fold up the stroller and hold the baby or let him/her sit in her lap while riding the bus. It can still be a difficult task if she has one of those larger strollers but at leas this way, not as many seats are taken up and people have a little more room to stand. If she has a smaller stroller, she could tuck it under the seat or hold it between her legs. I think this is the best method until something else can be done about this problem.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I confess, I don’t know how to answer this question. But I would like to make a few points.
I would think that a mother would be smart enough to have a fold away stroller for the bus. Also, I think a mother would be crazy to want to take a big stroller on the bus during rush hour.
Just as their are bike racks, I wonder if there could ever be stroller racks?
One of my pet peeves is when seated riders don’t give up their seat to a mother with a child. I’d like to see the bus driver make people give their seats to Moms with kids!
March 10th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Mothers and their babies need to travel just like the rest of the population. Do you also have a problem with wheelchairs? If you don’t like it, buy a car. What next, banning overweight people because you can’t maneuver around them. It’s not your place to choose what size stroller one should bring on the bus. Mind your own business and how about dedicating your time and efforts towards a real problem in society. What a silly complaint, or should I say “asinine”.