‘Accessible buses give me greater independence’

Four months since TN Government launched low floor buses in the chennai, Sathish Kumar explores the experience as a wheelchair user who frequently travels across the city

On November 25, I completed four months of travel, hopping on 55 low floor buses of MTC that make trips to various destinations. These travels were part of my work and social activities, and above all to show the joy and freedom of an accessible travel for a wheelchair user.

It is a different form of happiness when you don’t have to be lifted into an auto or cab with your wheelchair also stuffed into it. I do need some support to hold my motorised wheelchair while entering and exiting the ramp of the bus but this is far better than someone lifting me without proper training.

These accessible low floor buses hit the roads in Chennai after almost 20 years of struggle by many disability rights activists including Rajiv Rajan, Vaishnavi Jayakumar, and advocates Poongkhulali and Yogesh. This would not have been a reality without the understanding of the State Government. These accessible buses not only give power to persons with disabilities but also to senior citizens.

My first travel was from Koyambedu to Rohini Theatre stop on August 7, which was comparatively hassle-free.

On another occasion I had to travel from Indira Nagar MRTS to Saidapet metro station, so I waited for 19B for close to two hours. Those were early months when low floor buses were pressed into service and their fleet was also less in number. In the last four months MTC’s fleet of low floor buses has increased.

As per a circular posted by MTC on social media, there are over 400 low floor buses, but information about them don’t show up in the MTC app. We have represented this to the MTC managing director Dr. Alby John Varghese. We also wanted details of such buses to be colour coded blue and written “LF” as this will help us plan our travel better.

There were other hiccups that I faced in the early months. A few drivers skipped the bus stop. I guess some were reluctant about taking a wheelchair user or opening the ramp.