Ginormous strollers on T buses
By adamg - Thu, 01/10/2008 - 9:01pm.
Liam is on the 66 bus when a woman tries to get on in Coolidge Corner with an SUV-sized baby stroller:
... I wavered between who I found more annoying: the woman who brought a ginormous stroller on public transportation or the passengers who steadfastly refused to let her in thus creating a dangerous bottleneck. Luckily, after a few stops things cleared up and the woman with the stroller moved over to the handicap seats, flipped them up and stood with the stroller out of the way. This was a good thing because as we passed through Allston we picked up more and more passengers until people were squished in like sardines. Altogether and ugly and unpleasant ride. ...
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It's not just the strollers
The strollers are absolutely a problem, but the other problem is that the new low-floor buses have a narrower aisle which makes the already existing problem more dangerous to boot. I had never seen people get on buses with kids still in the strollers till I moved here. Everywhere else I've lived people have taken the kid out of the stroller, folded it up, and put into a baby bjorn type thing to get on the bus. I've been on the 70 in the new buses where the driver will tell the person with the stroller to use the back door and then they stay there. Genius. This forces people need to use the front door to exit the bus no matter how far back they are... not that many people want to be that far back.
Washing machine
Yes washing machine. Trash picking has just hit a new height of resourcefulness.
I saw a guy get on the 93 last week with a WASHING MACHINE on a 4-wheel cart. I don't think the driver realized what was going on because he boarded at the back door. Fortunately, the bus wasn't crowded.
That beats the snottiest parent with the spongiest little sedentary brat in the hugest entitlementmobile stroller any day.
Usually, trying to get out
Usually, trying to get out of the Longwood Medical Area at the end of the day via 66 involves a 20-minute wait at Brigham Circle. That means there are a lot of people waiting for the bus when it finally arrives. Most of the time, when it arrives, there's at least one medium-to-huge stroller in the front. Sometimes there are two in the front. Occasionally there have been two in the front and one at the back door.
I realize that people with strollers have as much right to take buses to get where they need to go as the rest of us, but if it were me, I wouldn't try to do it at rush hour through the medical area.
Why strollers?
My kids are less than two years apart and I NEVER understood why it was necessary to bring a shopping cart along. At most, I carried a backpack for the baby and an umbrella stroller for the older one. Oh, and, you know something? They CAN walk most of the time, too!
I see moms and dads get on the busses in Somerville all the time and all they have is a backpack and a tiny little "umbrella style" stroller that doesn't block the aisle. These people likely don't have cars, so they probably cover a lot of ground like this. Anybody over age 3 is on foot. The SUV stroller privilege attitude for kids up to age seven seems to be a wealthier suburban thing from what I've seen.
I remember some asshat shoving a giant pudgy kid in an even more gigantic SUV stroller into my leg on the green line. When I pointed out that he was supposed to fold the damn thing, he started bitching about "you people who don't have kids don't understand blah blah blah rant rant bitch". He STFU when I cut him short and snapped "I have TWO of them YOUNGER than yours and THEY WALK".
At the time mine were 4 and 2 and we walked to the train station together a couple times a week. I would have a small umbrella stroller handy if the 2 year old got tired somewhere along that mile walk. We even went cross-country, just the three of us, on planes with car seats in tow.
Why people think they need - or even want - a Hugh Jass Signature Megastroller that won't even fit through a door for a kid who never otherwise stops running is beyond me. Perhaps they really just don't think.
Yep
Good post.
Strollers are named for the proper activity -- strolling. They are not meant for long distance or complex transportation. My kids are 2, 5, and 7, and I have no difficulty taking them on the 'T without even a back-pack, let alone a stroller. For seven years I've basically always had a kid who might not be quite ready to do everything on foot, but I've never once pushed a stroller onto the 'T. I have them, but they are for leisurely walks around the neighborhood, or for battling my way through the airport.
One thing I've observed about the folks with the giant strollers is that they are usually first time parents and quite likely have very limited experience with schlepping kids. Our first stroller was admittedly larger than need be, and it has taken three kids to finally figure out exactly what I want in a stroller (small as an umbrella but with a bit more ruggedness). I would recommend to any new parent a snap and go for the first six months and something like a mid-range McClaren for the toddler phase.
Exactly!
Where I see the worst problems is places like museum stops and the like. It isn't just the first time parents, but those used to car-to-mall situations only. People who regularly use the T - the ones I see on the buses again and again - go as light and small as they can.
I had a large double stroller, but it was the front and back type that can make it through a door. I used it to walk to the grocery store using the bike path when the kids were 0 and 2. I only took it on the T once or twice, when my husband was with me to help haul it. Even then it was folded up. I also had a burley trailer, but that was only for the bike (I've seen larger on the train, though. WTF?)
I used the front pack a lot, and the back packs until my youngest was 40 lbs. A back pack sticks out, but no more than the kid would if he/she were on the floor standing (and getting squished by people that can't see them).
It's a 10 lb or 20 lb being. It doesn't take a 20 square foot device to transport him/her in comfort, or even haul some groceries. When I see the expensive strollers around Charlestown, I am astonished - the money buys smaller size, not larger.
We had three kids
When our oldest was three, we had twins. We did NOT even consider taking the twins' double stroller on public transportation. We did have two light-weight umbrella stollers -- but ditched even these as quickly as we could.
This was long ago -- not even sure whether they make the kind of umbrella strollers we used way back then....
It infuriates me when people bring mega-strollers on buses. and mystifies me when the kid in the stroller looks like they are 2.5 to 3 years old.
I somehow had a feeling
I somehow had a feeling that this post would end up on Universal Hub. Writing about the T attracts Adam like moths to a spotlight.
The strollers have got to go
Thank you, SwirlyGrrl! Finally someone else sees the lunacy (and rudeness) in the proliferation of strollers. I see kids who clearly are old enough to walk being pushed around the city; the strollers are huge and the parents act as if everyone else is obligated to get out of their way. And why do they insist on bringing the stroller into small, crowded stores? And onto the T? The whole thing makes me angry.
Great idea -- ban parents
Great idea -- ban parents with strollers. Especially since it is so easy to hold a baby, have some groceries in one hand plus your Tpass. Easy, easy easy. And those fold-up strollers are really good in the snow and ice.
Maybe next we can ban people with kids who cry (so annoying!). Or old people(slow!). Or people with wheelchairs (slow and they are in the way!). Or fat people (they take up too much room!!).
That way, we'd have a lot more room for really kick-ass people like mibsphil and swirlygirl. That would be like a rolling night-club, man!
And, if you want to take your six month old baby to Children's Hospital, like I did for her heart surgery checkup and you want to use Public Transportation and you don't have a car and you don't want to strap something across your child's surgery site, well you are shit out of luck.
These little children are going to be your coworkers and caregivers and providers one day. We all have all kinds of shit going on in our lives. Give a care, guys!
fold it please!
We ain't talking tiny babies in tiny transports with special needs here - we are talking louts with large walking-age kids in giant strollers who insist on cramming them into vehicles full of (gasp!) other people!
So save the "special circumstances" speech for those rare occasions, please. People might be more tolerant of these issues when/if that pertains IF there weren't so many thoughtless and entitled ubermegaoverstrollerites out there with massively oversized vehicles for two large children over age 4 smashing ankles for no reason.
Prams are for babies.
Prams are for babies. Babies. And prams don't fold. And they are huge.
Also, save your "walking children" speech for someone else. My kids walk, I walk, my husband walks. However, I realize that not everyone is as comfortable with exercise as I am. Other people have worse health and their own issues to deal with.
I'm happy these huge-stroller using people are using public transportation and not polluting by driving their cars. I am glad to see that they are doing some walking to get to the T.
In Europe, yes, you don't see the "huge pram" situation on the subways and trains and buses. But what else don't you see? Accomodations for the handicapped.
You folks are a bit too harsh
I wouldn't want to ban strollers or parents on the T and I do think it a bit unfair to single parents with strollers out for such harsh criticism. As I noted in my post the situation was exacerbated by passengers who would not let the mother and her stroller by. And to her credit she did move as far out of the way as possible when she got a chance.
I think there's room across the board for common courtesy and street smarts on public transportation, so I intended the coda of my post more in the vein of helpful advice than just plain old snark.
Who said banning them?
I have two kids. I took them on the T and followed the rules at the time, which requried folding the strollers. I see parents who follow the rules all the time and I don't have a problem with it.
Perhaps I'm "harsh" because I know it isn't necessary to demand a ridiculous amount of space for a small being? Because I think it is absurd to throw a defensive tantrum about how special your kids are when the driver asks you to fold it and sit because there are two wheelchairs coming on? Fine. Harsh it is. I"ll just take my bike on and park it in your lap because I have children and I work for a living and that gives me ultimate coup. That would be on the same lame level.
Which is why the MBTA reminds us
"Remember, courtesy counts. Riders and baby strollers need to share space on the bus." Thanks MBTA! That's so much better than increasing the number of buses during rush hour.
I agree with your post that everyone involved needs to use some common sense. Unfortunately often no one does.
I Love That Message
Courtesy counts? What, is it like 20% of our final grade?
The present situation on the MBTA, unfortunately, illustrates
What happens on the MTA, unfortunately, illustrates something that permeates all segments and places in our society today...the lack of common courtesy and civility. It's rather disgusting, imho. However, there are certain things that can't be rectified. I think that folding strollers are OK to bring on the T, but the huge prams are probably not such a hot idea. I've seen many kids on the T refusing to walk, and putting undo burden on their parents, so maybe having a stroller can be helpful in that kind of situation. Beyond the age of 2-2.5 y ears of age, however, the stroller's not appropriate.
It doesn't have to be this way
We lived for a while in Geneva, Switzerland, which has excellent public transit. Unlike here, it seems to have occurred to the transit folks there that people with small children might want to use the buses. Every bus has a designated stroller area with railings but no seats. IIRC, there was even a special door button on the outside, with a picture of a pram on it, that would keep the doors open a little longer than usual. Also, the people were very kid-friendly and often helped me get my little ones on and off the bus. (It was a bit startling at first—being American, I'm not used to strangers scooping up my children and putting them on the bus for me.)
Also, all the escalators in stores accommodated strollers. It was no big deal, just how they were designed. I don't understand why American stores can't do that as well.
I bet this same
I bet this same inconsiderate biatch won't hesitate to whip out her breast to nurse the little basturd while at the same time her tram is ramming an elder in the knee....
There ought to be spit shifts for commuting, the elderly, infirm and those simply can't walk a quarter mile either an hour before or after normal rush hour
That woman may have been me.
That woman may have been me. We don't have a car (don't want one for environmental reasons and couldn't afford one anyway). My son has special needs, and we sometimes spend all day at the hospital. He needs to have a large, comfortable stroller so that he can continue to nap in it even now that he's three. I have a tiny stroller that I use whenever I can, but when you don't have a car, you also need a stroller that handles decently without making you hunch over, carry all the supplies on your back all day, etc.
HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TRAVELING WITH A KID?
What I don't understand is why people have such a problem with getting the hell out of those seats so the stroller can be out of everyone's way, and why the stupid MBTA doesn't put signs up about it like they do in civilized countries where it's actually OK to live without a car. Public transportation needs to work for all kinds of people, or we're all screwed in the end. I've been to plenty of places (in Europe) where buses regularly have two or more strollers on board and it's no problem whatsoever. People expect it and act accordingly (there's space, and/or the seats flip right up), and no one would ever dream of suggesting that a mother spend every day getting her kid(s) around in an annoying stroller that's too small.