Wheelchair Vs Pushchair

I use London buses every now and again, and today I learnt something new. A normal London bus has space for 1 wheel chair, and 2-3 baby pushchairs depending on size.

So, this afternoon I'm in a bus, and this mother boards the bus with a cute baby who was fast asleep. A few bustops later, a lady on a wheelchair stops the bus. The bus driver yells for the lady with the baby to either get out of the bus or fold her pushchair. We all started talking to each other at the same time, more like 'is that right?, can u believe that? The woman stood her ground and said NO. The bus driver switched of the bus engine and demanded she gets out of the bus to give room for the wheelchair user. She said No.

We stuck there for a good 7-10 minutes and another bus came. The wheelchair user boarded it.

We were all left wondering whether some people are more equal than others. When I got home, I was so upset with the driver that I had to get an explanation, and guess what I found this from a bus operator website:

There are specific legal requirements placed on bus operators regarding the carriage of wheelchairs. The law requires all new buses (since 1999) to be wheelchair accessible, and lays down precise details of the dimensions and features of bus construction to allow wheelchairs, up to a certain size to be carried on buses.

There is no legal requirement regarding buses providing for the carriage of prams, buggies, or any “baby or toddler transport device”.

The primary reason for there being a wheelchair space on buses is to allow wheelchair users to travel on the bus.


Our policy can be summarised as –

wheelchairs have priority;
if the wheelchair space is not required for a wheelchair, anything/one else can occupy the space; but only on the understanding that they vacate the space if it is subsequently required for a wheelchair.

This means that whatever is occupying the wheelchair space, be it standing passengers, passengers sitting on the “tip-up” seats located in the wheelchair space, suitcases, bulky luggage or any baby or toddler transport device (buggy/pushchair) etc, has to be moved out of the wheelchair space to make way for a wheelchair if a wheelchair user subsequently wishes to board. Thus whatever is in the wheelchair space has to be capable of being moved (and safely stored in the luggage rack or elsewhere) when required.

This policy has been in place unchanged since the advent of wheelchair accessible buses some 9 years ago and all wheelchair accessible buses display 3 signs shown below which clearly state the requirements.

But to wake a sleeping baby, seriously whoever set this policy has no children.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the disabled, but an innocent child....