Chances are you’ve encountered them somewhere. Maybe they blocked the door to the coffee shop. Perhaps you had to squeeze by them to get a seat on the bus, or maybe they ran you off the sidewalk on Bank Street.
Regardless of the venue, if you’ve walked around Ottawa on a Saturday, you’ve likely crossed paths with a Bugaboo, Baby Jogger or other model of what some people call ‘SUV strollers.’
These sidewalk behemoths have caused a growing animosity between parents and other passengers on OC Transpo buses for years. It finally climaxed earlier this month when a heated argument between a bus driver and Sarah Pacey, a mother of two who wanted to get on the bus with her stroller, led to the driver shutting the door in her face and driving away with one of her children.
The real issue here isn’t a particularly surly bus driver, it’s what to do with today’s giant strollers when they enter already narrow and cramped spaces. To find a solution, both OC Transpo and parents should take a look at what local businesses are doing.
Large strollers are a reality in Centretown, and the smarter businesses have adapted their stores to accommodate parents with oversized prams.
It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy. Maison Baguette etc., a small bakery on Bank Street, encourages parents to leave strollers in a more spacious part of the store while they shop. The Herb and Spice Shop across the street has aisles wide enough to accommodate both strollers and other customers.
Even in the Glebe, where the term ‘Glebe mom’ is a popular insult for self-entitled parents pushing obnoxiously large strollers, the Mrs. Tiggywinkles toy store has been able to strike a balance between the stroller folk and other people. Parents often leave their strollers in the front of the store, sometimes even outside, to avoid blocking the aisles.
These businesses have done the smart thing and opted to accommodate customers with strollers. Some Toronto restaurants have taken the opposite approach and banned strollers altogether, which has led to heated arguments and the eateries being boycotted.
OC Transpo can learn something from these shops. Strollers aren’t going anywhere and denying them outright isn’t an option. Since buses can’t get any wider to create storage space for strollers, perhaps OC Transpo should regulate the number of strollers allowed on a bus, or follow through on earlier plans to limit the size of strollers parents can bring.
But while OC Transpo should be making changes, parents have to get real about what’s possible on a bus.
Employees at Mrs. Tiggywinkles are thankful that when most parents with strollers walk by and see there are already a number of buggies inside, they take a walk around the block and wait for space to open up. A number of stroller moms also shop early in the morning and in other quiet periods to avoid inconveniencing other customers.
For some reason, this courteous attitude doesn’t extend to buses.
This summer OC Transpo announced the possibility of banning all strollers over a certain size because they congest the bus and take priority seating away from senior citizens and the disabled.
One particularly vocal mother commented online, “I understand seniors face many obstacles and challenges. However, if they are unable to maneuver their way on and off a city bus then maybe they should seek alternate means of transportation.”
Maybe seniors should take a cab or buy their own car instead of inconveniencing parents with strollers. And maybe an elderly patron who can’t squeeze by a stroller at Bridgehead should just go start his own franchise.
Being a parent is difficult. But OC Transpo, like shops on Bank Street or Elgin, aims to accommodate as many customers as it can. Bringing a stroller that takes up as much space as three people on a bus during rush hour not only leaves other paying customers unhappy, it frustrates employees.
SUV strollers may be an annoyance, but businesses and parents have co-operated to keep everyone happy. Maybe buses should be next.