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actualtext t1_ixu4uh1 wrote

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.

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mowotlarx t1_ixufwp9 wrote

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.

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actualtext t1_ixui094 wrote

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.

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carpy22 t1_ixut7lm wrote

> 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.

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actualtext t1_ixw06u7 wrote

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.

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carpy22 t1_iy2bp0k wrote

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.

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