Kids on the bus.

Jamie has a good post called "Kids and the Low-Car Lifestyle," about how to navigate public transit with kids in tow.  

I confess that I don't really know how I would manage without two cars, but I am aware that the only reason I don't know is that I have not made it a priority to figure it out.  If it were high on my list to downsize to two cars, I think we could do it.   

It isn't high on my list right now, though.

Comments

[Rebekka]

Having read that post I have to admit it's way easier here where the buses are built to have spots for two giant prams per bus. (Or a pram and a wheelchair.) I can't imagine wrangling baby + babycrap + folding a stroller one-handed.

[bearing]

There are two wheelchair spots on every bus here in the Twin Cities, but you're not allowed to occupy them with a stroller. The rules are that you have to fold your stroller and keep it in the seat with you; it can't stick out into the aisle. So: easy to do with umbrella strollers or the smaller variety of normal foldable strollers, not so easy with the big ones.

I have mixed feelings about this. Years of babywearing combined with a 3-year child spacing have made me very intolerable of strollers in public places. I can count on one hand the times I have used one, not counting the running stroller. It seems I am always having my foot, or my toddler, run over by strollers whenever I find myself in a crowd. I wish they would rent slings (or heck, Baby Bjorns) at the State Fair and the mall for less money than the rentable strollers. So many safer toes that way.

On the other hand, I'm aware that lots of people depend on the stroller to get them and their kids around town without a car, so stroller-friendly policies = family-friendly policies. I guess the compromise that the Twin Cities bus people have come up with is not too bad.