Call for sideway number boards in MTC buses

CHENNAI: Senior citizens find it hard to identify the right Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus to board as the plates bearing the route numbers are not found on the sides above the doorway
anymore.

Most MTC buses bear two route boards; one in the front and other at the rear. Those with poor vision or cannot move fast enough, particularly struggle as they are stuck being dependant on strangers for help.
“My vision deteriorated with age and I can’t read the bus number from far. I have to run to the front or back of the bus to recheck after the bus arrives at the stop,” said T K Raghunathan, a 69-year-old resident from KK Nagar.

“I wanted to go to Tiruvanmiyur one day and wanted to take 47D. I rushed to the rear of the bus and quickly boarded. Only after boarding I knew that I took 47A,” said A N Jaganath, a resident of
T Nagar.   He added that senior citizens get anxious and panic each time a bus arrives thinking whether it is their bus to board.

“Every time a bus arrives, I have to run or ask someone else.” He added that buses don’t stop at their designated stops within the depot, making it harder for senior citizens to search for the correct bus.
H Vijaya, a 60-year-old woman from Chromepet, who has arthritis finds this ritual rather stressful.
“I am not fast enough to run back and forth. It will be very helpful, if buses bore the number above the doorway so that senior citizens can read it easily,” she complained about the situation.

The senior citizen added that old people need time to wade through the crowd and board the bus, unlike youngsters. A few batches of deluxe MTC buses were released with provision for number board above the doorway, however, with lack of maintenance, those buses would soon disappear. “Other buses in the fleet don’t have provision for us to instal number plates on the side,” said a senior official from MTC.
The official said this complaint has, however, been placed multiple times by travellers. While no formal order has been issued to install route boards on the side of buses, the MTC official said the management may consider including provision for sideway number boards in new buses alone.