The CTA is making progress cracking down on strollers that take up space in priority seating on buses, CTA president Forrest Claypool said today.
Stroller complaints were down 60 percent in the six months after the CTA introduced an information campaign in November 2012 to remind riders that priority seating is intended for the elderly and riders with disabilities, Claypool said.
There were six complaints about strollers in priority seating in the six months after the campaign launched compared with 15 complaints in the six months prior to the campaign, the CTA said.
In 2012, bus drivers began passing out fliers to riders with strollers to remind them that open strollers are allowed to be parked in priority seating but must move if a rider with a disability or a senior citizen needs the seat. Use of smaller strollers is encouraged.
Rider complaints about priority seating in general were down 21 percent, from 43 complaints in the six months prior to the compaign to 34 complaints in the six months after it.
“We are monitoring [priority seating] closely,” Claypool said at the monthly CTA board meeting after a rider complained about regularly encountering strollers in priority seating. “We believe we are making progress.”
Claypool said today the agency reissued the priority seating bulletin to remind bus drivers of the rules. Federal law requires the CTA to designate some seats for the elderly and riders with disabilities.
Some CTA announcements also ask riders to give up their seats for expectant mothers.
Claypool said the agency will gather more data on the efficacy of the campaign before deciding whether it will adopt the policy the suburban Pace bus system employs, which asks riders to fold strollers before boarding the bus.
