All MTA Buses to Have Designated Spot for Open Strollers
For years, parents and caregivers had to fold up and lug strollers while juggling children on board the city’s buses. After a successful pilot, the Open Stroller program that ran for the past several years, the MTA is now taking it system wide.
| 06 Aug 2026 | 04:18
Spots on MTA buses that have been designated as open stroller spaces are marked with a decal. (
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A designated open stroller space is coming to an MTA bus near you.
After a successful pilot, the MTA announced plans to outfit all buses with a space for one stroller by the end of this year.
“That’s a huge win for many people who have been asking for this for many years,” said Demetrius Crichlow, the president of New York City Transit, at a news conference announcing the plan on August 6.
“As a parent of three, I can tell you firsthand how difficult it is just to get from point A to point B,” Crichlow continued.
MTA requires that caregivers fold strollers before boarding and for the duration of the ride to prevent them from blocking the aisles. However, carrying these strollers can be a tedious task when also juggling children.
“They are heavy, and they are cumbersome,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who has two children. “This project is really going to make a difference for families.”
The designated space will be located near the rear doors of buses in the form of a double seat, which caregivers will be able to flip up to stow strollers.
If the spot is already occupied or the stroller is too big to fit, MTA says the stroller must then be folded. Riders will also have to enter at the front to pay before making their way back, which may be difficult on a crowded bus.
However, the pilot, which launched in 2022, was successful enough to further expand it in the spring of 2023.
While many caregivers were on board, the pilot initially drew some controversy from people in the disability community, who worried the plan would reduce “wheelchair priority seating” marked spots.
Advocates in the disability community suggested that all voices be considered when designing an effective solution. Upon this recommendation, the MTA created an advisory group including caregivers, disability advocates, bus operators, and officials from the administration.
“It took us exactly the time that it needed to take us for us to ensure that we heard every voice, that everyone’s needs were met, and that we were able to provide something that was helpful to every rider,” said Quemuel Arroyo, the MTA’s Chief Accessibility Officer.
Arroyo said the design eases the issue for caregivers while “preserving the integrity of the accessibility spots.”
Crichlow said that 75 percent of nearly 6,000 MTA buses are retrofitted already. The plan is to continue rolling out the program throughout the rest of the year. Any new buses the MTA gets will already have the feature.
“We’re ensuring our bus, our system, is a part of their lives from the very start,” Crichlow said.