Top man backs bus pram ban

Published on Tuesday 7 June 2011 18:18

The boss of Lothian Buses has defended the firm's controversial ban on prams, saying the firm cannot rely on the "generosity" of parents moving for wheelchair users.

&#149 Jane Grant was told she couldn't take her pram on a Lothian bus

Ian Craig said that prams which cannot be folded could not be allowed on buses even if the wheelchair space was vacant, because it could leave a disabled person at the next stop relying on the mother agreeing to get off the bus.

His comments came in a letter to Jane Grant, the mother of four-month-old Seamus, who complained after being refused entry to a bus while pushing him in a non-foldable pram.

She had been trying to board a number 19 on Crewe Road South when the driver turned her away. She said: "The driver refused to allow me to board the bus even though the wheelchair space was free. He insisted that I had to have a fold-up pram to get on the bus. A number of passengers came to argue my case but he refused to accept these intercessions on my behalf.

"As a result I had to get off the bus, to my utter humiliation."

&#149 Is it time Lothian Buses rethought its ban on prams on its vehicles? Vote here

However, Mr Craig stood by the company's policy, and said it was important that wheelchair users should be free to get on the bus without being reliant on the kindness of parents to make way.

In a letter to Ms Grant, he wrote: "I do appreciate that on your return journey you told the driver you would be happy to leave the bus if a wheelchair user subsequently wished to travel and I applaud your personal generosity in that regard.

"However, we cannot frame our policy and rules in a way which is ultimately dependent on everyone else being willing to be as generous as you. That wouldn't be a workable arrangement as the ability of wheelchair users to travel on our services would then become dependent on the reasonableness and generosity of other passengers. Regrettably, we know from harsh experience that very often that reasonableness and generosity wouldn't be forthcoming."

Ms Grant, who lives in Comely Bank, said she had read the guidance on the Lothian Buses website, which says one unfolded buggy may occupy the wheelchair space if there is no wheelchair user on the bus, and adds: "Whenever the space is required by a wheelchair user, other passengers must move to make it available, and any buggies must be folded and stored safely elsewhere."

But she said the advice on the website was not clear, and did not specify that non- foldable prams were barred from buses

She added: "I'm really confused. They seem to contradict themselves. My other point is that what he says, and what the drivers know are very different things, so people have run-ins with the drivers all the time."

Mr Craig said that Lothian Buses' fleet was one of the most accessible in the country among large urban bus operators. The firm is phasing in buses with both wheelchair and buggy spaces.

He added: "That process cannot be completed overnight. I'm afraid that for some time to come we will need to maintain the current distinction between unfoldable 'prams', which we don't carry, and foldable 'buggies', which we do."