Buggy accessible public transport in Rathfarnham?

queenmeabh

Hi all

I've just moved to Rathfarnham and was pleased to find that there were a couple of city-bound bus routes practically on my doorstep on Marlay Court.

Then I got on a 14 today and realised that it's an OLD bus - not buggy / wheelchair accessible - and a phonecall to Dublin Bus revealed that none of the nearby routes to the city centre - the 14, 14A, 48A, 16 and 16A - are dedicated wheelchair/buggy-accessible routes. I was advised that it 'looked like' the nearest dedicated accessible city-bound route was in Templeogue - 5km away.

Just wondering if this is really true - if anyone knows if there are any dedicated accessible bus routes within walking distance of Nutgrove? Otherwise I'll be walking the 20 mins to the Luas with the buggy - fine on a dry day, but....

Thanks

Cookie_Monster

can you not simply collapse the buggy and carry the child...
while they may not be dedicated low floor, a lot of the buses on those routes will be, as its not 100% they can't make the claim however. many 16/a I've seen are low floor.


It's a wonder how we managed without low floor buses for 70 years....

BrianD

All buggy people should be collapsing their buggies. The only place that you can sit with a buggy is the wheelchair area and this should be kept clear in case it's needed.

January

BrianD wrote: »

All buggy people should be collapsing their buggies. The only place that you can sit with a buggy is the wheelchair area and this should be kept clear in case it's needed.

It's a wheelchair OR buggy area, if I bring the buggy on the bus and then someone with a wheelchair wants to get on, then I'll collapse the buggy.

robbie_998

adrieanne__x wrote: »

It's a wheelchair OR buggy area, if I bring the buggy on the bus and then someone with a wheelchair wants to get on, then I'll collapse the buggy.

so what happens when (and this does happen a lot of the time even when it shouldn't) 2 buggies occupy the wheelchair space ?

are we gonna sit on the bus for 10 minuets waiting for you two to get out of there, fold up, find seats and carry your child and whatever bags so the guy in the wheelchair can move into the space ?

im sorry but if you simply pre-fold the buggy at the stop, child in one arm and buggy in other just simply place the buggy on luggage area and away you guy it only takes a couple of seconds... imo people are getting too lazy.

Jehuty42

In my experience, the 16/a is not guaranteed to be low-floor, but chances are that at least every second one will be. Can't speak for other routes.

But really, you should be folding up the buggy.

KC61

Yes - there is a limited low floor allocation in the Rathfarnham area.

None of the 14, 14a, 15b, 16, 16a, 17 or 48a are guaranteed low floor routes.

The 16 and 16a tend to be 50/50 between older and newer buses, while the 14, 14a, 15b, 17 and 48a are primarily non-low floor buses.

The 74a (passes by the Yellow House) is however low floor as is the 75 which does pass Nutgrove en route from Tallaght to Dun Laoghaire.

KC61

robbie_998 wrote: »

so what happens when (and this does happen a lot of the time even when it shouldn't) 2 buggies occupy the wheelchair space ?

are we gonna sit on the bus for 10 minuets waiting for you two to get out of there, fold up, find seats and carry your child and whatever bags so the guy in the wheelchair can move into the space ?

im sorry but if you simply pre-fold the buggy at the stop, child in one arm and buggy in other just simply place the buggy on luggage area and away you guy it only takes a couple of seconds... imo people are getting too lazy.

The rule is that only one unfolded buggy can be carried. There should never be two.

If a wheelchair user then wants to get on the driver can only ask the person accompanying the buggy to fold it - believe it or not some people have refused and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

robbie_998

KC61 wrote: »

The rule is that only one unfolded buggy can be carried. There should never be two.

That is correct sir but it does still happen that the driver wont care a let two in unfolded which was where i was coming from.

KC61 wrote: »

If a wheelchair user then wants to get on the driver can only ask the person accompanying the buggy to fold it - believe it or not some people have refused and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

if i was the driver i'd just refuse to move the bus until they folded the buggy... i see drivers stop at a bus stop , turn off the engine and refuse to move until people upstairs stop smoking.... fair play lads !

AlekSmart

Then I got on a 14 today and realised that it's an OLD bus - not buggy / wheelchair accessible - and a phonecall to Dublin Bus revealed that none of the nearby routes to the city centre - the 14, 14A, 48A, 16 and 16A - are dedicated wheelchair/buggy-accessible routes. I was advised that it 'looked like' the nearest dedicated accessible city-bound route was in Templeogue - 5km away.

Perhaps your majesty QueenMeabh you might find this lad to be of some assistance...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056068825

Although he got a bit of a Mod nudge over his efforts.

I would suggest that there is great scope for an enterprising designer of Buggies/Prams to get it together with companies such as Dublin Bus and design a Public Transport friendly Buggy,or as my mother would have called them,a Go-Car.

One of the greatest problems associated with the principle of Buggy Access is the ever increasing size and weight of the Buggy itself.

In keeping with our national obsession for placing ever smaller children in ever larger containers...viz...Porsche Cayenne,Audi Q8,Range Rover HSE,etc,we now insist on making the same statement with the buggy itself.

The result is fast becoming chaotic with a very real compromise of general safety vs accessibility.

The answer I feel is for Bus Designers,Operators and Buggy Manufacturers to get together and agree a standard.

The Various Operators might even subsidise the production of the lightweight quick-fold buggy which would be in their own interests as the ever increasing size of the present buggy fleet is slowing the network down on an ongoing basis.

Either that or get in the Filipino people to demonstrate to the natives just how quickly a Buggy can be folded without ever having to be asked by the Busdriver...they just look firstly into the Space..if it`s occupied,they fold...just like that !...No Drama,No Argument...just quick efficiency with a smile.....:)

Way to Go !!!

queenmeabh

Thanks for the information on the buses in the area - very useful.

I gather that Dublin Bus are aiming to introduce low floor buses on all routes by 2012. Leaving aside the pram / collapsing buggy debate, I'm sure that there must be some wheelchair users in the Rathfarnham area who are looking forward to the update.

AlekSmart

I'm sure that there must be some wheelchair users in the Rathfarnham area who are looking forward to the update.

I`m sure there are Your Majesty,but in the context of an overall Fleet Reduction of almost 200 Buses from the Good-Time levels it will come as cold comfort to any prospective passenger waiting there.

It also has to be reinforced that One Bus= One Wheelchair.

So foe example,if a Wheelchair user boards at Nutgrove bound for the Airport,then that`s that for the entire journey in terms of another wheelchair user boarding elsewhere.

What is often missed in this debate is the actuality that the Operator is only legally bound to provide that dedicated space,if it is subsequently occupied by another passenger,mobile or not,then the Driver has NO power to enforce any right of access for the disabled person. :mad:

That reality rather makes a rats-ass of the entire Disability-Access legislation,something it took Joe Duffy and Liveline to uncover sometime back :eek:

As for a driver not accepting folded buggies,I`d suggest there may have been other issues,perhaps with space or a buggy not folding completely.

I have had problem,s where buggies could not be/were not folded completely and as a result had bars and stuff jutting into the gangway....Sorry but that`s a NO NO....as any Senior Counsel would have a field day matching the jutting bar to the gaping wound in his/her clients backside......:P

mikemac

KC61 wrote: »

If a wheelchair user then wants to get on the driver can only ask the person accompanying the buggy to fold it - believe it or not some people have refused and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

I wouldn't have believed that would happen. I knew the rule but innocently assumed we'd never have that situation

I hate people sometimes. Well may not hate, get disappointed I suppose
Sad state of affairs if you'd rather leave a person in a wheelchair at the stop then fold your branded, McLaren, cost few hundred euro designer buggy

AlekSmart

Oh it happens feelingstressed,and somewhat more often than one might suspect.....

It`s directly related to a National Preoccupation with our "entitlements",a term which usually surfaces when a situation such as this arises.

robbie_998

I really think these people who don't fold their buggies are just being lazy and ignorant.

they really should be made fold space or not.

these low floor buses came in in the year 2000... what happened before that people ?

oh wait i know.... EVERYBODY folded their buggies and nobody ever complained because at the time (apart from a tiny number of fools) everybody was able to fold a buggy and be ready for when the bus came.

but now i'm hearing this that people are refusing to allow a wheelchair user on because their buggy is in the space ?
its a fecking disgrace and the driver should enforce out if his own free will to refuse to move the bus until the buggy is folded and the wheel chair user is able to get on the bus.


Seriously.... people with buggies, don't be idiots, fold the damn thing or put yourself in a wheelchair and try getting a bus where people are being like you and not folding buggies and see how unfair it is !

mikemac

robbie_998 wrote: »

its a fecking disgrace and the driver should enforce out if his own free will to refuse to move the bus until the buggy is folded and the wheel chair user is able to get on the bus.

As a passenger I'd back them 100% and so would anyone else. Shame them off the bus

But who knows, the same person who couldn't find the energy to fold a buggy would probably find the energy to make a formal complaint and land the driver in a disciplinary meeting for not following regulations.
After all, that person is "entitled" to take the wheelchair space :rolleyes:

I don't envy the job of a bus driver.

Take hassle for following regulations,
take hassle and abuse for checking dodgy cardboard social welfare passes
take abuse from people banging on the door if the bus is just away from the bus stop but face the sack if you open the door and the "runner" falls and get injured. So who do you satisfy?

I'm getting offtopic