Tokyo bus operator: No need to fold twin strollers

Jiji Press

16:58 JST, January 3, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The operator of Toei Bus services in Tokyo is working to inform users of twin baby strollers that they can board a bus without folding their strollers, with the babies staying in them.

Such efforts are being made in hopes of easing concerns about bus use that grew among families with multiple babies after Kana Oyama, a former Japanese national team volleyball player, wrote in her blog about difficulties she experienced when using Toei Bus services with her twins.

On Dec. 20, the Tokyo metropolitan government’s Bureau of Transportation, which offers bus services in the Japanese capital, held an event at which the guardians of twins were invited to practice procedures for riding a bus with an unfolded twin stroller, aiming to help them use bus services without worry in daily life.

Toei Bus created a user’s guide for passengers with twin strollers in June 2021.

According to the guide, such a passenger is asked to convey to the crew his or her intention to ride the bus and then to board from a door in the center of the bus. The crew is supposed to secure a space on the bus by folding up seats so that the user can pull over his or her twin stroller and lock it to a handrail with belts.