Wheelchair users and prams on public transport, whose priority

[aliceBB]

Why on earth would a mother be shopping late at night with several small children in tow? They should be in bed!

[Cyclone]

Fully agree with you, on that chem. The court has reached the correct verdict. I don't use a wheelchair but I know if I did that I would strongly object to someone saying I am not equal to everyone else, especially as they would not have asked me in the first place.

 

So on that basis you'd object to the assumption that you can't use stairs or steps, and so you'd expect no special provision to be made for you.

 

---------- Post added 10-12-2014 at 08:49 ----------

 

 

You can of course buy a folding wheelchair. Then when you get on a bus, in a car or on the train or a plane it can be folded up whilst you sit in a regular seat

 

Seriously.

 

Don't be such a Richard.

[spilldig]

So on that basis you'd object to the assumption that you can't use stairs or steps, and so you'd expect no special provision to be made for you.

 

---------- Post added 10-12-2014 at 08:49 ----------

 

 

Seriously.

 

Don't be such a Richard.

 

I reckon all buses apart from school buses should be single deck.

[Justin Smith]

Which way should I vote if I don`t think anyone should get priority ? This poll is asking a flawed question. There are obviously not going to be many reasonable people who think a pushchair should get priority over a disabled person in a wheelchair. There should be an option for nobody gets priority over anyone else.

 

If it`s possible for the pram* to be folded to allow a wheelchair on, then yes it should be. If it can`t or there isn`t room for the adult the child and the folded pushchair then it`s simply a matter of who is first in the Q. I`m sure everyone on the bus needs to get somewhere on the bus or they wouldn`t be on it. If an "able bodied" person or someone with a pushchair had to get a bus to work or to catch a train (particularly if they were only every 30min) why is their journey of less importance than the journey of a disabled person ? Giving the latter priority isn`t equality at all, it`s quite the opposite.

 

*And who pray is going to give the adult a hand folding up their pushchair whilst keeping hold of their child and any bags they`ve got ? ! ?

Edited December 10, 2014 by Justin Smith

[barleycorn]

Which way should I vote if I don`t think anyone should get priority ? This poll is asking a flawed question. There are obviously not going to be many reasonable people who think a pushchair should get priority over a disabled person in a wheelchair. There should be an option for nobody gets priority over anyone else.

 

If it`s possible for the pram* to be folded to allow a wheelchair on, then yes it should be. If it can`t or there isn`t room for the adult the child and the folded pushchair then it`s simply a matter of who is first in the Q. I`m sure everyone on the bus needs to get somewhere on the bus or they wouldn`t be on it. If an "able bodied" person or someone with a pushchair had to get a bus to work or to catch a train (particularly if they were only every 30min) why is their journey of less importance than the journey of a disabled person ? Giving the latter priority isn`t equality at all, it`s quite the opposite.

 

*And who pray is going to give the adult a hand folding up their pushchair whilst keeping hold of their child and any bags they`ve got ? ! ?

Buses are apparently full of helpful people would who would be happy to lend a hand. Not at all like the ones who would just stare at you (or avoid eye contact) for having the temerity to bring a baby, no doubt a screaming one, onto their bus. Alternatively I guess the shopping and baby could be left of the pavement while the pushchair folded and stored, I'm sure both would be perfectly safe.

 

jb

[RollingJ]

I reckon all buses apart from school buses should be single deck.

 

Why? Although capacities are fairly similar, configuration choice is surely up to the operator (except on those routes where a low bridge precludes the use of a 'decker).

[spilldig]

Why? Although capacities are fairly similar, configuration choice is surely up to the operator (except on those routes where a low bridge precludes the use of a 'decker).

 

Of course it's up to the operator. It's just my opinion, because it is difficult to negotiate stairs whilst the bus is in motion and from what I have seen if someone stays sat down upstairs,as they should do, the driver in some cases will drive off again before a person gets downstairs, and as much as anybody I blame the companies for that for putting the driver under stress to keep to time.

[Super Hans]

when my kids were young we had a small one and it was always ready folded when we boarded a bus

 

Good shout old man.

 

No, nowadays these single moms could not give a damn if they delay the bus or not.

 

Yeah that's alright love nobody is trying to get to work while you're off collecting my taxes from the dole office arguing about the fair, going through the 27 pockets of your fake designer handbag trying to find my money - as if it was a surprise that the driver was going to ask for a fare to use the bus.

 

Sometimes I wish I lived back in the day when people were just ready for the bus when it came.

 

Money or pass in your pocket when you're waiting people, it's really not rocket science.

[Cyclone]

Buses are apparently full of helpful people would who would be happy to lend a hand. Not at all like the ones who would just stare at you (or avoid eye contact) for having the temerity to bring a baby, no doubt a screaming one, onto their bus. Alternatively I guess the shopping and baby could be left of the pavement while the pushchair folded and stored, I'm sure both would be perfectly safe.

 

jb

 

The shopping isn't likely to run away whilst right next to you as you fold your Ferrari branded monster buggy.

[chem1st]

I'd assume that he's off with the fairies, public transport used primarily by those with free travel. He's clearly not caught a tram or a train recently, and I can't see why the bus would be very different.

 

I regularly use the trains and since pensioners have had to pay a fare, even though it is only half full fare the amount of people using the train has dropped significantly, to the point I am worried services will be reduced. A friend who is a conductor, continually made the point about how in SY, most passengers were travelling for free. (It's obviously a little different in the morning rush hour when people are off to work, but through the rest of the day, the majority of passengers were those with free passes in SY).

 

---------- Post added 10-12-2014 at 22:37 ----------

 

Bit of a difference between those two views. How do you reconcile them?

I assume this is guesswork or opinion. If not I would be interested in seeing where the facts are published.

 

Latest bus and concessionary travel statistics

In the year ending March 2014:

 

-there were an estimated 5.2 billion bus passenger journeys in Great Britain – around two-thirds of all public transport journeys, of these, 4.7 billion journeys were in England, of which half were in London.

-bus passenger journeys in England increased by 2.2% compared to the previous financial year

-there were around 9.7 million older and disabled concessionary bus passes in England, with an average of 104 bus journeys per pass per year

 

Ok, so about 20% of bus journeys are made by people with free passes across GB (~ 1 billion).

 

Bus usage has been in long term decline, but with recent increases, due to ~50% increase in number of people with free passes making journeys, whilst number of journeys made by working age adults continues to decline.

 

But half of all bus journeys are made in London, where there are few elderly people.

 

On pg 22 of the following report, you can see breakdown of journeys, and number of journeys by year from the 1970s. It is for Tyne and Wear, but T&W has population demographics similar to South Yorkshire. Here a third of journeys are by people using free travel passes.

 

http://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/files/Strategic%20Intelligence%20Report%202012-13%20(Alex%20Finkel).pdf

 

So whilst there isn't a majority of journeys made by people with free travel passes. In places like SY, over a third of journeys are, and outside the morning rush hour, it's safe to assume the majority of people are travelling using free travel passes.

 

I was going on my personal experience (but have always commuted by bicycle or train to work), so I'd forgot about morning rush hour, which is made up nearly entirely of fare paying passengers.

 

It'd be interesting to find the exact stats for SY, will try and find them when I have the time.