CINCINNATI — Folding up a double stroller can be hard enough as it is. Now, imagine doing so while trying to hold three kids, all under the age of 2.
One Cincinnati woman said, rather than try to help her, Metro bus officials kicked her to the curb.
Rayven Adams shared a video she took while on a Metro bus Tuesday afternoon, which captures her confronting a Cincinnati police officer and a bus driver after they said she had to exit the bus because she had not folded her stroller and stored it under her seat.
I was kicked off the bus by a metro supervisor and police because i couldn't hold two infants at one time and fold a...
Posted by Rayven Adams on Wednesday, January 13, 2016
“You’re putting me and my three babies off the bus when it’s clear I can’t fold a stroller up,” Adams is heard saying in the video.
The disagreement was a result of a Cincinnati Metro safety regulation that requires passengers to fold and stow strollers and other wheeled equipment while onboard the bus.
“Metro’s policy is all strollers and carts must be folded and clear of the aisle way when on a bus,” said Metro spokeswoman Brandy Jones. “We would not want an incident where, if the bus driver had to make a hard stop, the stroller could roll and injury a passenger nearby or — worse yet — injure the children inside the stroller.”
But Adams says this policy can make riding the bus hard on single parents.
“[The driver] said, ‘I’m waiting for you to fold your stroller (before moving the bus),’” Adams told WCPO. “I said, ‘How am I supposed got do that? I have two infants. I can’t hold both of them and make sure my son isn’t trying to run off the bus.’”
Adams said she would like to see a spot to stow strollers that do not or are difficult to fold, and a little more leniency.
“Make a spot where we can sit with our stroller,” she said.
Jones said Metro officials at every level are investigating the incident, and could not comment further while that investigation is ongoing.
