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I live in Los Angeles County and use public transportation (buses, LRT, and subway) quite frequently.
One thing I have noticed is that I almost never encounter parents with very young children (like 2 years old or younger) riding public transportation. At least I don't see them often enough to have any impression on me.
Where are these carless parents I hear about? I have no doubt they exist. Don't they have places to go with their babies? Or do they actually have access to a car through friends and relatives?
Don't know much about Los Angeles, but I've seen some very young children on the NYC subway. Most of the time they'd be on strollers, which would be a pain on a crowded train, but they're there.
When are you using public transit? There are certainly children, but parents typically try to avoid bringing kids during rush hour if possible. Here in Boston, I see lots of little kids at around 10 (on the way to library lapsits, running errands) on weekdays and early mornings on weekends.
I am not surprised if that could be the case in most of LA.
I sometimes see toddlers on the bus in my area. And definitely parents with strollers. I live in Oakland.
I am not a frequent rider so I don't know the patterns, and my own closest stops aren't popular with kids. In the past year or so I have seen way more parents with seats on their bikes for kids, or with a kid in a sling, or a trailer or special bike with kids parked at the grocery store, farmers market or riding around town.
Young kids on the bus\public transit is a major hassel. I have seen mothers use it in Chicago but usualy only low income ones. If possible people prefer cars when transporting Children who can't walk or keep up with an adult.
I thought it was going to be a thread on how dangerous to take children on public transportation. I used to take my young children on it. On the (higher quality) commuter trains, I have seen a few, mostly weekends. But I remember one woman took her young son downtown, where he was in day care. He was pretty popular with some of the commuters.
LA is made for cars not people. No parent wants to expose their children to such a dangerous environment. Who could blame them? It's an extremely autocentric, hostile environment for anyone not in a car. I know we're talking about transit but transit users are also pedestrians for the most part unless you're using park and ride. The streets are no place for women and children to be in. But you could probably say the same for 98% of cities in N. America.
My mother tells me that when she was a little girl, she would take public transportation alone and it was safe and normal thing to do. (1950's, Minneapolis).
My mother talked about taking the train alone in the 1930's to go to the aunt/babysitter in a town 20 miles away in far upstate NY. Good thing the train isn't there anymore otherwise that would set off cell phone alerts statewide.
When our little girl was younger we would go on city trips (intercity train to subway) with her big wheel stroller about equivalent to a wheelchair in dimensions and configuration. It's problematic in NY City when most stations didn't have elevator access, and certainly we didn't try that in rush hour. We could negotiate a few steps but the turnstiles are tough at the non-certified stops. I remember having less trouble in Boston and especially in DC. Of course there are also many places where strollers of that size don't really fit politely and we had to take turns letting her take a few steps while the other waited in the wider hallway.
I live in Los Angeles County and use public transportation (buses, LRT, and subway) quite frequently.
One thing I have noticed is that I almost never encounter parents with very young children (like 2 years old or younger) riding public transportation. At least I don't see them often enough to have any impression on me.
Where are these carless parents I hear about? I have no doubt they exist. Don't they have places to go with their babies? Or do they actually have access to a car through friends and relatives?
Probably half the time I take transit here I see parents with young children.
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