Department for Transportation consultation paper flags up the issue of buggies on buses, and how they affect other public transport users.
Parents who take up wheelchair space on buses with their child’s buggy have been mentioned alongside passengers who drink and smoke in a consultation paper by the Department for Transport (DfT), reports the BBC.
The consultation paper – amongst other things - asks for views on how significant a problem it is that buggies are parked in the space for wheelchairs, stopping wheelchair users from being able to board.
While it sounds like parents are being given a hard time (ever tried getting on a bus with a buggy, baby, toddler and bags in tow?), the DfT has gone some way to clarify the situation. It’s not that families with buggies are a social nuisance in the way anti-social passengers are, it’s just that the same piece of legislation covers these issues.
“We are committed to listening to bus passengers and putting their interests first. These proposals are not about penalising parents with pushchairs, they are about tackling operators who persistently neglect their responsibilities to provide wheelchair users with the space they need,” said a DfT spokesperson.
Under current legislation, the bus driver must allow a wheelchair user to board the bus if the wheelchair space isn’t occupied. Local operators decide the quantity and style of buggies allowed.
Parents with a buggy can carry their child, fold and stow the buggy, but a wheelchair user could only travel in the wheelchair space, the DfT said.
Has your buggy even stopped a wheelchair user from getting on the bus? Do you park or do you fold when you’re onboard with your tot? Let us know…
