News

ANTIOCH, CA, March 31, 2006 – The Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority (Tri Delta Transit) recently became the first transit agency in America to create a designated stroller area on buses. In March, 2006, Tri Delta Transit took the precedent-setting, proactive step of removing one set of seats on each of its 40-foot fixed route buses, designating the remaining space for passengers with strollers. To date, 90% of Tri Delta Transit’s available fleet has been retrofitted with the new stroller area and the remaining 10% should be completed by mid-April, 2006.

The decision to create the designated stroller area is a proactive response by Tri Delta Transit officials who recognized a dramatic increase in strollers on their buses. “We currently accommodate these passengers by deploying the lift to assist them in boarding the bus,” said Tri Delta Transit CEO, Jeanne Krieg. “However, we recognized the difficulty they encounter when required to fold their strollers and felt there was more we could do to make their experience easier and more enjoyable,” she continued.

Currently strollers are required to be folded and placed out of the aisle. This can prove difficult to someone who must manage not only a child in a stroller, but a bag of groceries and perhaps an accompanying toddler or two. The new stroller area allows passengers to quickly and effortlessly park strollers on board buses without folding them. It makes exiting the bus faster and easier as well. The area will accommodate a maximum of two strollers. An additional two can be placed in the wheelchair securement area if a wheelchair passenger is not on board. However, wheelchair passengers will always have priority in their securement area.

“Strollers are still required to remain out of the aisle and to be folded if space in these two areas is not available,” said Krieg. “However, under the right conditions we are able of accommodate four unfolded strollers before that is required.”

The stroller area and new stroller policy offer greater flexibility and make using Tri Delta Transit buses much easier for stroller users. The new policy reads as follows:

Strollers are to be kept out of the aisle. Strollers are to be placed in the designated stroller area. If the stroller area is full and space is available in the wheelchair securement area, strollers may be placed in the wheelchair securement area. If both the stroller and wheelchair securement area are occupied, passengers boarding with strollers MUST fold the stroller and keep it out of the aisle. If a stroller is in the wheelchair securement area and a wheelchair passenger boards, the stroller MUST move to the designated stroller area or be folded and placed out of the aisle. Children may remain in the stroller if there is room for the stroller to remain out of the aisle.

The number of people using public transportation is increasing throughout America. Ridership on Tri Delta Transit has increased from 379,000 passengers annually in 1984 to over 2.5 million today. Eastern Contra Costa is among the fastest growing areas in California and the United States. With the continued population and housing growth in the area, and subsequent attraction of young families, the number of passengers using strollers has increased significantly.

Tri Delta Transit has already received an abundance of positive feedback from passengers who are finding the stroller area to be a welcome addition to the buses. “We’ll continue to investigate new ways to make riding our buses more enjoyable,” said CEO Krieg, “and we’ll continue to improve our service to make riding the bus a better transportation option for everyone in our community.”

Tri Delta Transit provides over 2,500,000 trips each year to a population of nearly 230,000 residents in the 225 square miles of Eastern Contra Costa County. Tri Delta Transit operates 14 local bus routes Monday – Friday, 2 local bus routes on weekends, express commuter routes, door-to-door bus service for senior citizens and people with disabilities, a 49ers Sports Service, and numerous shuttle services for community events. For additional information about Tri Delta Transit, please visit www.trideltatransit.com.

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