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| To the man on the bus today
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Dear Sir
you don't know me but I'm the lady with the pushchair from the number 44 bus this afternoon. I got on the bus at 4.50pm, in Earlsfield.
Mine was the second pushchair that the driver allowed onto the bus. You will note that there are two spaces for pushchairs. If a wheelchair wants access I, or any other pushchair owner with a bit of common sense, will immediately fold down the pushchair or get off the buss if we have shopping etc. to accommodate them.
You might remember the bus was a bit busy. This was because there hadn't been a bus coming down that road for more than 15 minutes. Of any number. Thankfully the drizzle was very light.
When I got on, most people kindly moved their bags, or stepped out of the way for a second to let the pushchair through. I appreciate that there was a bit of bunching by the stairs. For some reason people with two functioning legs and few bags persist in standing around blocking the aisle rather than climbing the stairs to the top deck where there are almost always seats.
You and your friend were unable to move far, and I'm sure had a reason that you were unable to climb the stairs and let my pushchair through. I noticed that you had had a tracheotomy. Maybe this left you short of breath and unable to do so? I do hope you're feeling okay.
I'm not a bus designer, but a few months of using public transport with a pushchair has taught me somethig about bus design. One is that the siting of the pole with the red bell-push on it on the buses used on the 44 route is absolutely idiotic. Although the space is big enough to accommodate two sensibly-sized pushchairs easily, the pole means that they can only enter the space from one side. This requires the first pushchair to be moved across and be effectively trapped so that the second can fit in. By refusing to move, either into the space by the door which was just behind you or up the stairs, the young mum with the other pushchair was unable to move hers, meaning I could not move either and ended up trapped in the aisle.
The other young mum and I were there, trapped as you complained to your friend about how we didn't ought to be allowed on public transport (I congratulate you on your correct use of English, by the way. Most people think that construction inelegant but it is nevertheless correct).
You said that we ought to be banned from buses. You said we should be banned from travelling in the rush hour. You said many things. Maybe you thought we couldn't hear them. Maybe you knew we could and it was your intention that we should hear you.
I hope you caught our various eye-meets, the looks exchanged between me and the young mum. We were both either too polite or too scared of being physically or verbally abused to set you straight. But I'm going to take the chance to do so now.
Firstly, should pushchairs be allowed on public transport.
The answer has to be an unequivocal yes. I need my son to be used to the idea that to travel means to use many different means of transport. I don't want him to be car-dependent. In a city like London that would be insane. Think of the pollution, the cost, the use of oil and natural resources if every parent abandoned public transport and drove cars instead. Equally I don't want him to be scared of using public transport. Boris Johnston campaigned to become mayor on the message of fighting the youth crime that is so prevalent on buses. I think it sends quite the wrong message if buses are not open to all for use.
Actually, I'd be pretty stuffed if I couldn't use public transport. I do tend to walk everywhere if I can - it's a contribution towards losing the babyweight as well as an effort to cut my carbon footprint. I do have a car but I'm a bit afraid of driving in London as there's a load of nutters on the road. But also I was involved in a car accident a couple of months ago, and I have a whiplash injury. I can't walk as far or as fast as I used to at the moment. The bus is a life line for me at the moment.
I'd like to thank your friend again for his kindness. While we still could not wedge my pushchair fully into the badly designed second space, his help ensured that I was able to move far enough out the aisle to let more people onto the bus. You may remember I thanked him. You might not remember but when at the following stop some people got off the bus, I ensured that you and your friend were able to take the seats vacated. this was only polite, you were after all amongst the oldest on the bus and I was unable to see a pregnant woman or anyone else who needed it more. The young mum and I took the opportunity to lift my pushchair fully into the space, ensure that they were out of the way of the aisle and that our babies were happy.
Secondly, as for travelling with a pushchair in the rush hour, the rush hour in London seems to go from 7.30am to 10.00am, and from about 3.00pm when the schools start to come out until about 8.00pm, although I'd saythe peak was from about 5.30, 6pm. There's also a period over lunchtime when the traffic get busy and the buses get crowded.
I do try to avoid travelling in those times - you can imagine it's not a very pleasant experience for a small baby to be hemmed in by many people. It's certainly not a pleasant experience for me. People seem to think I'm inconsiderate, you see. Or deaf.
Just occasionally it is necessary, if say my son or I have a medical appointment that is further away than I can comfortably walk, or which would take so long to get back from that he'd miss a mealtime.
I don't think I was unjust in wanting to get onto a bus at 4.35pm when I arrived at the bus stop, it's hardly the peak of the rush-hour.
I don't think it was completely inconsiderate of me to get onto the bus when one arrived after 15 minutes of waiting. the longer than usual gap between buses meant that it was more crowded than I had anticipated. But bus drivers in London are very good at only letting pushchairs on if there is room for them. the driver felt there was room on his bus. I don't think he expected other passengers to be inconsiderate, you see.
A couple of last thoughts. I pay tax, including tax that goes to fund Transport for London. In part, I've funded that bus. I don't see why I should be refused access to it.
We parents of young babies don't get free travel either - no freedom passes for us although maternity pay doesn't go far each month and a month's child allowance would barely cover a day at most London nurseries.
So not only have I part paid for the bus, I also paid for my son and I to be onboard. Just like you had, I presume.
If your problem was the pushchair, well I have to say the size of modern pushchairs can be preposterous. Some are more like 4x4 cars than a simple means of transport for a person weighing less than one stone (16lb). Some parents tend to rather disregard the stray bags and knees that clutter the aisle between the front of the bus and the buggy stand and fight their way on and off regardless.
But I selected mine carefully. You see, I knew I was going to be using public transport so I deliberately selected a pushchair narrow enough to fit comfortably up that aisle, and a short enough pushchair that it wouldn't stick out and get in the way once safely in the buggy space. It's easy to manoeuvre, light enough to lift on and off. It is indeed an ideal pushchair. Oh and comfy for my son too.
So, ifa tax-paying, fare-paying, environmentally-minded, polite, considerate mother with a small baby and a small pushchair should not be travelling on public transport outside the actual rush hour, then who should? And what on earth makes you think you have the right to decide?
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Posted by rose22 on 2008-05-28 17:49:33 | Rating: | Views: 190
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| Blog Comments
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Sounds like you met Mr Inconsiderate - good on you for speaking out about it!
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Posted by sianysian
on 2008-05-29 07:13:27
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If I could, I would Pay extra to use a bus service that only allowed quiet individuals on board. Noisy, would be performance artists who use their mobile phone as though it were a microphone in a comedy club would be ejected. Mothers with screaming brats would also be ejected. I find it annoying that on these badly designed uncomfortable and un-airconditioned buses, each morning and late afternoon I am pressed into the kind of intimacy I reserve for friends and family with absolute strangers and most of them very unattractive. These buses are a horrific design, in another country they would be scrapped at once as criminal. They are, throw you to the floor, jerky, with bad suspension and are freezing in winter and a steaming swamp in summer. The windows at the top are only designed to cool the bus if the bus is moving swiftly which is as likely as a unicorn being born, in London traffic. It's a very strange and uniquely English trait that we buy tickets from people to be treated like poo.
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Posted by Maungey
on 2008-06-20 06:32:42
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Nothing screaming or brattish about my child, obviously. I hope you agree that this being the case, ejection should be for the rude and intolerant...
When I commute (and yes we ladies with small children can also be commuters going to/from nursery with our pushchairs but as it happens I get on after dropping my son off), I agree it would be more pleasant to have space and ventilation. I tend to think of commuter time travel as being cattle truck class.
Until then, my wish is for people to be consierate, and nice whether they have pushchairs with them or not.
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Posted by rose22
on 2008-06-20 11:29:13
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I would like to say well done Rose for eeping your cool and even being polite despite the rudeness you faced. I cannot always do that. People seem to complain about pushchairs when it doesnt concern them even when they are happily sitting in a seat. I myself have a stroller but had first purchased a travel system for my premie as I wanted her to be comfortable and had forgotten about the bus. I usually walk the half hour journey to avoid the arguments and hassles that happen but occasionally do have that pushchair and get on the bus. But I have sometimes found it doesnt matter which one I have as the driver sometimes refuses me on the basis theres one on already! Even if it is a stroller with a large toddler and no bags! Does anyone one the official number of pushchairs allowed on a bus as it would be a good idea to print this and show it to the rude drivers out there. Sorry on a rant nearly lost my kids on the bus today for the driver to drive away with my arm still in the bus! I complained but we all know nothing will change!
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Posted by AaliyahK
on 2008-07-02 16:59:34
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