Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
HAVERHILL, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — After a push inside and outside the organization, the Merrimack Valley Transit system has updated their stroller policy to allow easier access for families with younger children.
The policy now allows passengers to walk onto the buses with their stroller open, using the bus lift to help enter the vehicle. Previously, riders with children had to take their child out the stroller and fold it up, stowing it beneath the bus before getting on.
MeVa Office Coordinator Betsaida Jarvis was one of the people who advocated for the policy change, as she was inspired by a bus experience she had in Boston with her own child in a stroller, saying she "freaked out" when she found out she had to take a shuttle bus, only to learn that the stroller policy on the local buses allowed them to remain open the whole ride.
She noted the previous policy was an undue hardship on parents with young kids, who needed to juggle a few different things just to get on the bus.
“Today it’s raining, imagine a mother outside having to fold a stroller, carry their bag,” Jarvis said.
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This updated policy was put into effect on April 14. MeVa Administrator Noah Berger talked about how this, in conjunction with their fare-free rides that have been in effect since March 2022 and made permanent in February 2025, have led to more families and an overall 60% increase in ridership even compared to before the pandemic.
He also said that above all, communication with the riders’ needs was top priority and that “it’s part of being responsive to our customers.”
The main stipulations that go along with this change in policy are that parents must keep a hand on the stroller and that the space for the strollers is prioritized for disabled passengers first.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.