I am a
daily user of buses and I have to say that I feel that I am treated differently
when I board the bus only by myself or with a pram. And this difference, unfortunately,
rarely is meant in a positive way. I feel discriminated. And last Tuesday particularly, as I was denied
entrance on a bus practically empty and the destined space for wheelchairs or
prams was occupied by a single able-bodied person.
But let’s
describe what happened to me fully…. In a freezing afternoon, I was waiting for
the bus with my little one so that we could attend a GP appointment. The bus
approached the stop, I signaled it, the bus stopped the door opens and the bus
driver claims “We are full, there’s no more room for a pram”. The door closes
immediately. There’s not even time for me to see by myself or even ask around
if there was a possibility to create some space for the pram! As the bus
leaves, I was able to see clearly that the destined space for a wheelchair or
pushchair was occupied by a middle aged woman, without any disability
whatsoever! And the other spots for disabled persons where even vacant… Without
mentioning the rest of the bus that was practically empty.
Firstly,
let me clarified that I understand the buses policies to denied access to
mothers with prams when such access may jeopardize the safety of others
passengers, as may happen when the bus is completely packed. I also believe
that priority spaces should be occupied primarily by a wheelchair user, and if that
situation arises I would vacate it for the wheelchair user. This has already
happened and I vacated the space on spot (may I add without the bus driver needing
to say a word). Let me also state that I
disagree with the courts last ruling where wheelchair users lost their
claim to their designated spaces. But today I will only be focusing on my situation as a mum
boarding, or better not boarding the bus while carrying a pushchair.
What I
clearly don’t comprehend is why I wasn’t even given the chance to see if she would
mind to free the space so that I could board. It was my understanding that the
common policy is for the users to arrange space and vacate space accordingly, that
the matters should be left to the good sense and conscience of the passengers.
But this rarely happens, at least when it is me as a mother with a pram who has
to board the bus. Which is why I feel extremely discriminated. I feel that when
“there´s no room for a pram” (albeit there is), the bus driver simply takes
action and denies me access to the bus. Which begs the question: why wouldn’t the
bus driver take any action in helping me? Why not allow me to board and see if it was possible to arrange some proper space? Because I feel that so
often the bus driver usually lets a normal user board the bus even when it is
over packed and I mean more than over packed!
Innumerous
times mothers were painted and vilified in social media as unreasonable
individuals who don’t vacate the spot for the rightful user. This clearly, in
my experience, rarely happens. A mother with a pram is more likely a victim.
Take a look at this case, where a mother was left in the cold or this other case, where a mother had to sit on the
floor with her disabled son!
Undoubtedly
is the opposite that happens. But who is the villain here? Is it the bus
driver? Ultimately the bus driver only has the power to deny access and act as a mediator when conflicts arise by merely
preventing someone else from boarding. And clearly when the bus driver most chooses
to act, he rarely does it in a sensible matter. In all cases presented, the bus
driver acted in the most unreasonable matter! And why is this allowed to
happen?
I believe one
problem here is the unclear policy firstly, as the policies change greatly from
public transportation Companies, which have different conditions of carriage. Most
companies, as First group, do not give the driver power to require (as opposing
to request) a passenger to move out of the wheelchair or other priority spaces,
or to leave the bus if he or she refuses to do so. Not allowed to be an
enforcer, the bus driver leaves to the conscience of the passenger the
willingness to move. Clearly this will not be resolved anytime soon, as the
last court ruling showed, where companies are not obliged to enforce any sort of policy
at their passengers. The problem however is that not every passenger might be a
sensible one, which would force the driver to be, let’s say persuasive. That
said, and since that the driver cannot enforce anyone to be sensible and move
only leaves him the easy way out, which is deny the entrance to anyone who
might cause any disturbance.
However,
that’s not the only issue here. I also believe that the main problem is a
cultural one. Unfortunately society in general is selfish. How many times in
bus rides we see passengers occupying special designated spaces while the
rightful passenger is forced to stand? Or denied entrance? And no-one cared
about this. Even if it is unlawful. If everyone would show some consideration,
common sense, sensibility and manifest disapproval when such things happen, may be wouldn´t even be necessary for the
bus driver to act... But the main thing
is, we do not want to cause any sort of havoc do we? Particularly if that would get us
comfortably earlier at home.
I am linking up with these amazing bloggers:
