Vent-The troubles of public transport

heart_free

Never though of IKEA bags, will look into it.

Son had no trouble this morning, driver didn't even question him. Coming home this evening different driver said 'you're not allowed to bring that on here mate" to which he replied "I have an email that says differently". Think he's picking up my attitude :-)

He's enjoying the job so far, so fingers crossed he gets on well. Thanks all for you good wishes for him

[Deleted User]

Well done to both you and your son for dealing with this.

Makes me wish I could get my son to ride a bike safely on the roads as we have a similiar problem (40 minute walk from town centre to his college campus and no one seems willing to do anything about it - he's not good on roads - special needs also).

couponqueen123

heart_free wrote: »

Never though of IKEA bags, will look into it.

Son had no trouble this morning, driver didn't even question him. Coming home this evening different driver said 'you're not allowed to bring that on here mate" to which he replied "I have an email that says differently". Think he's picking up my attitude :-)

He's enjoying the job so far, so fingers crossed he gets on well. Thanks all for you good wishes for him

nothing like an email to shove down there necks;):o

sounds like your son is going to be a "chip of the old block" i bet hes doing super good at work and now this is sorted more confident about things maybe

best of luck to both of you and it was super nice of you to get him the bike

mum n dad got me my first car (5 of them:o)they all went bang apart from one which i gave my brother as he passed before me he did have free lessons thou;)

where would lots of us be with out super mums n dads eh? id be lost i think .

you sound like a super mum btw

TheSaint_2

Absolute madness! A pushchair for a baby would take way more room than a folding bike. Heck, shopping bags or an old fogey trolley would too!

go_cat

There are some people in this country who need to take notice of your son, who is determined to work and not stay on benefit s despite his personal challenges and you should be so proud of him. This puts a lot of people to shame

Abbafan1972

Our local buses are run by National Express and I've never seen a folding bike before on ours, but buggies the size of tanks are allowed on, so are old people's shopping trollies and a wheelchair (unfolded with the person in it), all of these would take up loads more room!

Bowling_4_Gold

I think what you've got to remember is that bikes have lots of sharp metal parts. Imagine if the bus had to brake sharply and the jagged edges went flying into somebody sat in the seat near it!

It makes sense to require folding bikes to be in a bag on a bus.

heart_free

Thanks all, your support is overwhelming. He's doing well and is now on his second week, loving working for his own money and gaining independence. A few people at his place of work have asked him for details where they can get similar bikes, so there may be a few more on the bus! It is so nice to see all the positive comments. Although I knew that at some point there would be someone that posted a "doomsday" scenario :eek:

I understand your concern bowling_4_gold, but the bike is engineered to comply with safety standards and has no more sharp edges than a buggy or shopping trolley. He also doesn't store it on a seat, but it's put safely on the floor by his feet, or stored in the luggage area if there is one. More secure than shopping, buggies etc. of course someone could be injured on a bus by shopping flying out of a bag and someone in a nearby seat being hit by a tin of beans! Or a vase bought in a gift shop being dropped and shards of glass hitting fellow passengers. However these are rare occurrences and shouldn't lead to shopping being banned on busses

WiggyDiggyPoo

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

Our local buses are run by National Express and I've never seen a folding bike before on ours, but buggies the size of tanks are allowed on, so are old people's shopping trollies and a wheelchair (unfolded with the person in it), all of these would take up loads more room!

Just a fair point of warning - I would never attempt to compare buggies, trolleys or bikes with someone in a wheelchair, I did once and got suitably and justifiably reprimanded:o

Buggies/trolleys are difficult to judge as well as often due to silly timetabling parents/old folks don't have enough time to fold them down, and/or organise their brood on/off transport.

The very worst example I once saw of this was on a train after someone put their child and luggage on board they turned back onto the platform to get more luggage, and the train shut its doors! Chaos ensued but we didnt depart until the guard on platform sorted it.

To be honest timetabling causes a lot of issues as, bus drivers especially so, being individually targeted to arrive at destinations not before and not after means customer service has been replaced with blunt get on with it style interaction.

Johno100

heart_free wrote: »

I understand your concern bowling_4_gold, but the bike is engineered to comply with safety standards and has no more sharp edges than a buggy or shopping trolley. He also doesn't store it on a seat, but it's put safely on the floor by his feet, or stored in the luggage area if there is one. More secure than shopping, buggies etc. of course someone could be injured on a bus by shopping flying out of a bag and someone in a nearby seat being hit by a tin of beans! Or a vase bought in a gift shop being dropped and shards of glass hitting fellow passengers. However these are rare occurrences and shouldn't lead to shopping being banned on busses

But bags of shopping don't have grease/oil on the chain and brakes and as the winter arrives mud and other detritus on the tyres, I think a bag would be a sensible addition, not only for the sake of his fellow passengers but your son himself.

The bike, when stored on the luggage rack, may also be a less tempting target for an opportunist thief if contained in a bag.