Dear Sir,

I am responding to the letter, “Stroller not allowed on the bus”, which was published last Thursday. I am the bus operator the young lady is referring to.

I have many years of experience working with the general public. On the day in question, the young lady with two small children was at a bus layby. I noticed that she had a very large double baby stroller and appeared to be struggling trying to fold it, while being challenged with maintaining control of the two children.

I secured my bus and left my seat to assist the lady in helping to bring the large double baby stroller on board, but couldn’t find a safe place to secure it because of its size.

I recommended that she hold the stroller in front of her, which reduced aisle space considerably for other passengers embarking and disembarking.

I suggested that a smaller umbrella stroller for travel on the bus would be compatible to the restricted space on most buses. She became very annoyed and claimed that she was already stressed and didn’t want to hear what I had to say. I apologised and explained that she was not the only person riding the bus and that it was my job to maintain safety for other passengers, as is the case under Sec 14 Omni-Bus (conduct) Regulations 2012.

Sarcastically, the lady asked if I was going to purchase her an umbrella stroller and provide larger buses with more storage space, to which I replied, “no mame”.

I further state that, under the circumstances, I did not refuse the lady to board the bus and recommended that she seek the help of services provided by a minibus or other private transport to meet her needs.

EA Thompson