[nagdu] bringing shopping carts on the bus

[Tami Kinney]

Oh, those low floor busses sound nice. I guess our transit company just 
bought some new busses, which is a big controversy, but I'm wondering 
what they are like.

We have various models of light rail cars, so that's confusing all the 
time. /lol/ People will put their bikes on hooks near the doors, which 
is a nightmare sometimes. I'm always brushing them with my head and 
stuff, just feeling them in time to miss them as I'm getting on or off. 
Once I was getting off in an underground station I hadn't navigated 
before, and as my dog got off, I got spun around as a handlebar hooked 
my backpack. Scared me to death, because I was one of the last ones off, 
so the doors were surely about to close! With my dog's leash right in 
the way. So I threw away the leash and got myself untangled and barely 
made it off to find my dog with the doors almost closing on me. Then 
things were echoing in there, and I was all in a kerpfuffle to begin 
with, so that was fun. Yikes! My overactive imagination can go to town 
at times like that, making everything much, much more exciting. My 
friends, unaware that anything was going on behind them, had gone ahead 
to the elevator, so I was standing there all alone and utterly lost... 
But Mitzi came back when I called her, then led me to the elevator where 
she had seen my friends go up, and it was all good. Naturally, there was 
a training session from GDB going on in the same area, so as I collected 
my loose guide dog and walked by one of them waiting to board with her 
trainee, I got to hear the snort of disgust. Well, I suppose my way of 
handling that counts as bad form, but... Letting the leash get hung up 
would be worse form and result in much damage to the dog, so I don't 
regret my decision. The dog was safe, unharmed, and came when I called, 
knowing where we needed to go to catch up with our group. So it worked 
out. /grin/

Still, I have learned to be more cautious at those doors when I am 
wearing a backpack or a coat with a hood or anything, and it seems Mitzi 
takes me more to the center when we're getting off now. It was really 
crowded that day, and a bunch of people were getting off at that stop, 
so there was jostling.

Ah, well. As long as it turns out safe. Still, I'm interested to find 
out if those new wonder busses are easier to get off and on than the 
ones we have now.

Tami

On 06/09/2012 09:42 AM, Lyn Gwizdak wrote:
> Sounds like you have the low-floor buses that run on natural gas. We
> have those here. Our trolley system is converting to the new low-floor
> trains and both are easy to get on with a cart and the dog. On the
> trolleys, there is a step up to get to more seats but I found that my
> dog's harness gets caught on something and I needed the driver to get it
> loose so I could get off! There is the same thing on the buses so I
> don't go back there.
>
> Lyn and landon
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jenny Keller" <jlperdue3 at gmail.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 6:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] bringing shopping carts on the bus
>
>
>> The places where the wheelchairs go are behind the wheel of the bus
>> behind the driver and also on the other side of the isle. they're the
>> seats that sit sideways.
>>
>> If I fold those seats up, I won't have anywhere to sit will I?
>>
>> Maybe I'm a little lost or confused. that happens a lot, smile.
>>
>> thanks for your help.
>>
>> Jenny
>> On Jun 8, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Criminal Justice Major wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, Jenny,
>>> That's why I try to do my grocery or regular shopping early in the
>>> morning or during off peak hours with the fold up cart so I'll be
>>> able to use the areas of where wheelchairs would normally go.
>>> We have buses here that have two steps in the back as well.
>>> When I've utilized those areas, I fold up one of the seats so the
>>> cart's not in the aisle directly.
>>> You can ask the driver or passenger if they could help you fold up
>>> one of the seats.
>>> There's a lever on the bottom that you pull forward and the chair
>>> should go up automatically.
>>> To put it back down, simply pull the lever again and it would come
>>> back down.
>>> Hope this helps.
>>> Bibi
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>>
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>
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