Submitted by Sherbet_Lemon_913 t3_z4vpa8 in nyc
Hi NYC, MTA is in the middle of a pilot program for “open stroller areas” of buses, so you don’t have to get your kid out of the stroller and fold it up while on the bus. I haven’t gotten to try one yet but curious to know what you think if you have tried one, or if you don’t have kids in a stroller, have they bothered you? The program is only running for six months and I would love for it to stick around.
I just think it’s weird that this is the only rule that bus drivers actually enforce. Every day people go through the back door in huge numbers, without paying the fare. People listen to music at full volume, drink, smoke, etc. But up until this point they will always make me fold up the stroller, often before letting me on the bus. I even had one bus driver tell me to “hurry up.” For me it’s felt dangerous to be hanging on to my kid with one arm while I desperately use the other arm to collapse the stroller and wrangle our backpacks, etc. onto the bus in traffic while they glare at me.
completely agree with the other posters about how baffled I was with the driver actually enforcing this rule after years of experiences of otherwise complete MTA bus chaos.
further, it is just plain safer for the kid to be in a buckled seated position - why would they even want to risk that liability. How is a child who is unable to walk any different then someone in a wheelchair, completely vulnerable.
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I’m still surprised that we don’t have bike racks on the front of our buses like countless other cities.
The city is building lots of bike lanes but somehow still doesn’t have this basic transit feature for cyclists.
Yeah, my tiny hometown's bus system has bike racks on the front, I was shocked to not see them here
I haven’t seen the results live but have taken the bus before with parents using strollers I can see why they require they be folded up. They take up so much space. I think to make this somewhat efficient they really need to redesign the seats so that more of them can be folded up and strollers aren’t in the way. I’m not sure what that looks like but it should at least be considered.
Bike advocates see bussing as weak. Very simple.
And I've been on so many buses where it's very jerky, with abrupt stops that send people flying sometimes. I'm so scared I would drop them.
Did you forget the part where a tiny human is being carried in the stroller and the adult not only has to single handedly fold up the stroller but has to hold a child (an infant to a toddler) on the other hand, all in a massive rush near the road or on a moving bus? That's incredibly unsafe. There's no reason we should be asking parents or guardians to do that.
Sometimes we have to be human beings on public transit and put aside a tiny amount of convenience and comfort to help people who need it.
A couple of lines do when they cross bridges that are not bike friendly/legal.
Part of me, even as a cyclist feels like bikes in public transit shouldn’t be encouraged but bike racks are a great solution since they aren’t inside.
Most cities won’t allow bikes inside subways because they can be annoying when the trains are full but it’s NyC, we can’t really enforce anything anyway. (Except fare jumpers and bikes without bells)
Because they know most parents won’t fight back or get violent so they enforce it. Same reason most undesired behavior gets ignored in NYC, no one is out there enforcing shit and people can get away with what they want. (Not trying to be political, I’m a “leftist” basically)
I'm not sure why you're speaking to me like I disagree with the idea. I'm just suggesting that if they are going to move forward with this then they should reconsider the seats and their arrangement in buses. It's quite obvious how they've ended up in the current state where strollers must be folded. If their plan is just to basically pilot it "allow strollers on and change nothing else to see what happens" then I'd be concerned that the stroller isn't really anchored down from a safety perspective (we'll ignore the space issue).
I'm simply suggesting that there should be more foldable seats so that the stroller doesn't take up the walking aisle. And there should be more anchors so that the stroller doesn't go flying in case of a last minute brake. Similar to how a wheelchairs have a section where the seats fold up and the chairs are anchored down.
I think in a city where buses can get real packed, it is definitely imperative that the MTA maximize the use of bus space to accommodate everyone and everything they expect to board buses whether it be wheelchairs, strollers, bikes, travel suitcases, etc. For example, on the M60 bus they have an entire section devoted to suitecases. The MTA would do well to approach think about this for trains as well where I feel like bikes are much more common to see.
Pro-tip: just like the people fare jumping and breaking other rules, you too can ignore the bus driver.
> I think to make this somewhat efficient they really need to redesign the seats so that more of them can be folded up and strollers aren’t in the way. I’m not sure what that looks like but it should at least be considered.
Montreal actually has that solved. It's a pretty simple solution: seats that by default are folded into the up position. See here: https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/aogi3u/apparently_were_getting_new_buses_the_whole_bus/ and https://cptdb.ca/wiki/images/3/3c/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_de_transport_de_Montr%C3%A9al_29-844_interior-a.jpg. It also makes the wheelchair boarding process slightly quicker as a nice bonus.
As a bus driver myself I can say 100% that this statement is correct. Many of us will say it to cover ourselves but don’t actually care if you listen. It’s just if there happens to a supervisor on our bus we can say “I told them to fold it, they didn’t listen.” Very few will be a jerk and refuse to drive if you keep walking.
It is a minor inconvenience but even so, strollers are not on every bus.
People realize that taking a child on a stroller on a bus is difficult and get out of the way and accommodate the adult any way they can.
I'd rather have them in the stroller so they can board and disembark quickly. Time is a bigger consideration than space.
Every bike advocate I know wants racks on busses and some have even actively worked on it. The MTA's answer, at least in the past, is that the extra length on the bus would be a problem fitting them all in parking at bus depots. Of course, the MTA could just put more busses in service at any given point and have less parked...
You need operators for those busses tho.
> Most cities won’t allow bikes inside subways because they can be annoying when the trains are full
Subway rules are that you can't have bicycles on trains at peak. Every other time is fine.
It's really a judgment call, though, you're right.
Edit: I was wrong! Bikes always allowed
I could see it adding to dwell times but I don't think that's the reason the MTA gave for rejecting the idea.
Of course yeah, any idea for improving the MTA involves throwing more money at it
That looks lovely. Any idea how they work in actual use? Are they workin as expected or have there been usage issues? That definitely lines up with what I’m referring to.
fyi MTA allows bikes at all times on subways. They suggest you avoid rush hour if you can but it’s not listed as a rule so you wouldn’t really be stopped or ticketed I imagine. It’s in line with your comment but just replying in case it helps someone reading this.
Do any of the buses that go through the Holland/Lincoln tunnels have them? That would be such an improvement for getting to/from Hoboken/JC by bike.
Unless you’ve got a newborn, a kid that has trouble standing/walking, or more than one kid at once, you’re kind of a dick to not just use an umbrella stroller on a bus. Assuming you can find a seat you just fold it up and keep the kid in your lap. Or if it’s too crowded then you can keep the kid in it I suppose. That’s what I always did at least.
You could always have a stroller on the bus. You just had to fold it up and put your kid in a seat.
No, qualified bus and school bus operators are at a planetwide shortage.
For 2 years there was reduced or suspended hiring, training, on boarding, and certifying. At the same time, there was more than 6 equivalent years of layoffs, terminations, retirements, quits, non-renewals, and yes even covid deaths.
Wheelchairs are properly tied down and secured, thus not completely vulnerable.
The vulnerable person in my comment is the infant or toddler who cannot walk but who is not allowed to stay in their dedicated chair. Instead we ask a parent to hold them with one arm on a moving bus.
If you are suggesting we allow strollers the dedicated wheelchair space to tie into, I'm all for that as well.
Glad they don’t. Cyclists are a menace in NYC not like other cities. No respect for red lights.
Lol. How many people have drivers killed in NYC? How many have cyclists killed?
I don’t know how that is related to my point? Cars are a menace? IDK
I was commenting that your point is stronger than your comment illustrates.
It's just a bit silly to complain about the mode of transport that is definitely not killing hundreds a year and call them a menace. Bikes are just new... people are accustomed to cars killing tons of people and breaking all kinds of rules.
Nothing to do with my point? Cyclists are a menace right now and if they love to bike, why do they need to carry the bike on the bus? Whenever a cyclists gets on the subway, it crowds the space, bumping into people with a dirty wheel. They need another mode to carry the bike?
Used it on m31 - pretty darn good.
Easy yellow handles to fold up the chairs
Awesome my misunderstanding
I think the second paragraph is most pertinent here. The reason we can't have nice things is because this city is overrun with entitled, overprivileged people. If it weren't for the fact that every inch given in this city is interpreted as a mile by the self-absorbed and clueless, things like this might have happened years ago.
Actual children who require a stroller should absolutely stays strapped in a stroller and we should accommodate that.
That said, as a disabled and middle aged person I am routinely baffled by adults who think their able bodied children are more in need of a seat than actual adults who have experienced gravity for decades so it's hard for me to be completely empathetic to the struggles of people who spend more on their strollers than I ever have on any mode of adult transportation.
Not to mention you’re going to be hard pressed to find people wanting to drive local busses on the overnight shift regardless of the shortage.
That is... not how the industry works.
Ignorance at its finest.
Yes these folks are ignorant
Yep. This is what is lost on alot of people wondering why certain things get enforced and other more outrageous things don't.
Can't speak about day to day use but the few times I needed to use them with luggage on various trips, it was very convenient to just put the bags in that space.
k1lk1 t1_ixt3kzw wrote
I find it really funny that in a public transit system with basically no real rules, only behavior standards, most of which are ignored anyway, we've finally decided after decades to give middle and working class parents a break by allowing them to just ... have ... a stroller on the bus.
Although I'm sure we're now going to have deal with double wides and those $1000 monsterwagons that every parent in the city decks themselves out with before visiting places with tiny aisles