There are specific legal requirements placed on bus operators regarding the carriage of wheelchairs. The law requires all new buses (since 1999) to be wheelchair accessible, and lays down precise details of the dimensions and features of bus construction to allow wheelchairs, up to a certain size to be carried on buses.
There is no legal requirement regarding buses providing for the carriage of prams, buggies, or any “baby or toddler transport device”.
The primary reason for there being a wheelchair space on buses is to allow wheelchair users to travel on the bus.
Our policy can be summarised as –
- wheelchairs have priority;
- if the wheelchair space is not required for a wheelchair, anything/one else can occupy the space;
- but only on the understanding that they vacate the space if it is subsequently required for a wheelchair.
This means that whatever is occupying the wheelchair space, be it standing passengers, passengers sitting on the “tip-up” seats located in the wheelchair space, suitcases, bulky luggage or any baby or toddler transport device (buggy/pushchair) etc, has to be moved out of the wheelchair space to make way for a wheelchair if a wheelchair user subsequently wishes to board. Thus whatever is in the wheelchair space has to be capable of being moved (and safely stored in the luggage rack or elsewhere) when required.
This policy has been in place unchanged since the advent of wheelchair accessible buses some 9 years ago and all wheelchair accessible buses display 3 signs shown below which clearly state the requirements.
Also shown below is a copy of the illustrated guidance given to our drivers to assist them in applying the policy. This differentiates between different types of buggy/pushchair/pram etc to show what is welcome, what is prohibited, and what falls into the sphere of “driver’s discretion”.
In addition to the examples shown, there are a multitude of different variants of buggy/pushchair etc and, whilst both extremities of the spectrum are clear, there is inevitably a grey area in the middle, therefore a driver may well have to ask a potential passenger whether the “device” is collapsible/foldable.
The law requires Lothian Buses to have on our buses a space for the carriage of a wheelchair, and requires our staff to request non-wheelchair occupants in that space to vacate the space in the event of a wheelchair wishing to use the space.
Click here for wheelchair information found on our easy access buses
