Buggies on buses must move for wheelchairs

 
P34 Zara Todd Pic: Martin Pitchley
Pippa Crerar|Jaymi McCann21 November 2012

Mothers with buggies and tourists with unwieldy suitcases are to be targeted in a new campaign to give wheelchair users priority on buses.

Transport for London will display posters on buses and shelters which make it clear that reserved disabled spaces on buses must be given up.

Bus drivers will use their PA system to ask other passengers to move aside — and will not be allowed to drive off until they have done so.

Zara Todd, 27, who uses a wheelchair, said: “There are very few accessible Underground stations so I use the buses to go most places in London. It’s quite hit and miss as to whether I can have a journey without some kind of incident and most involve buggies.

“It feels like there’s a conflict when there doesn’t need to be. People should be more courteous to each other.”

TfL officials said that the dedicated space, usually in the middle of the bus, was the only place where wheelchairs can travel safely. They pointed out that on most buses there is room for both a wheelchair and suitcases or a single buggy in the reserved area. But where there was not, the buggy would have to be folded and suitcases moved to storage racks.

David Liebling of London TravelWatch said: “We know mums and dads value being able to use the wheelchair space on a bus for buggies and it is great to see so many doing so. However, the priority has to be wheelchair users so we are happy to support TfL’s campaign to give these users priority.”

TfL’s managing director of surface transport, Leon Daniels, added: “The entire London bus network is wheelchair accessible and there should be no reason for a wheelchair user being unable to use a bus. However, they tell us that they are sometimes refused entry to our buses because the space is already occupied and other passengers will not move.

“We are asking, through this campaign, for passengers to show consideration to their fellow travellers.”

About two per cent of all journeys on London buses on a typical weekday are made by disabled people.

Case study ‘People make you feel guilty but I can’t fold my chair’

One Londoner said passengers made her feel uncomfortable when she used the allocated wheelchair space.

Zara Todd, a youth worker from Merton, said: “People make you feel guilty for having to ask them to fold their buggies. Drivers find it awkward to ask them because of the fuss that it can cause.

“They think they are entitled to have the buggy unfolded. I understand that it can be time-consuming but I can’t fold my wheelchair. I have no choice.”

Last year, Ms Todd made a note of every bus she tried to use over a period of six months. Of a total of 360, she had problems on 150 buses, and was unable to get on 50, mostly because of buggies.

She said: “It should be the case that, with or without a wheelchair present, parents are asked to fold their buggies. If it becomes the norm then people won’t be surprised when they have to do it.”

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