rbmartin, with the greatest of respect, have you actually listened to any of the arguments and points made here? No one buys a big buggy for the hell of it. I have outlined before some reasons why these larger ( although the size differential amongst double buggies is not that wide) are actually more beneficial to turning round in tight spaces and are lighter to push and to lift up and down pavements and buses. Forgive me if I am one of those parents who doesn't want a hernia pushing a heavy and cranky McClaren up hills. And you fail to take into account the issues raised by Jane2 about how not every parent would be able to fold up a buggy, having more than one child being a significant reason. What solution do you propose for twin parents or parents with more than one; I suppose they/we shouldn't have the cheek to venture out.
And what if the luggage rack is already full with other peoples luggage/shopping and there is nowhere to sit down with a child and no one offers. Your response therefore continues to be one dimensional.

And believe me, if there was a practical solution to getting my children around on buses I would be taking it however putting them into a light twin Mcclaren which is hard to turn around, which can't take any loads on the handlebars ie shopping , which generally has unreliable brakes especially on hills, which can tip over easily or be tipped over by a third child who incidentally sometimes sits on the top of it anyway when tired, is not on my agenda right now as it would not be able to be used in day to day life.

I actually have been thinking of another incident I witnessed a few years ago- before I had children of my own- in Herne Hill- when the bus driver opened the doors to a young woman who then proceeded to fold down her buggy with a child in her arms for the purposes of getting on= the driver shouted at her that she was taking too long, and shut the doors and drove off leaving her on the pavement. Seemingly women and parents cannot win.

Its a fact of life that children come with baggage but perhaps the real agenda is to produce smaller more flexible children who can squeeze into the tightest space imaginable.