Baby and Public transportation (bus/cab)

[Anonymous]

Hi. I am an expecting mother who lives downtown and never drives in city (preference & parking cost). Do mothers take babies in cabs without car seat? What about the bus? If so, at what age? I am comfortable with metro but not sure about other public transportation options. I see there is an old post about germs and I get that risk but what about other safety issues. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

If you can't or don't want to take your carseat, you would better off with metro. If you live downtown you should be able to walk and use your stroller pretty easily. Buses are pretty safe and you don't have to worry about the carseat, but I didn't use thema a lot because folding and unfolding the stroller was just too much work. As for cabs, I know there are some folks out there that will not use the carseat, but I always did. DC cab drivers do some crazy things! Even if you have a safe driver, my concern is all the other drivers around me.

[Anonymous]

We were also carless when we had our first and took cabs fairly often, metro all the time, but never the bus. Agree with the PP, it's way too much to handle the infant seat and fold down the stroller on a bus. In the cab, ALWAYS use a carseat. Most infant seats have a way to secure them quickly just using a seatbelt rather than installing the base in the car. It's not nearly as safe as using the base but it's better than nothing in a cab.