To educate and create awareness among bus commuters on how to stay safe during a commute, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has fitted audio-speakers at the Broadway bus terminus.
MTC is expected to extend the initiative to other bus termini and halting points on major arterial roads.
Advisory bulletins in Tamil are broadcast from the audio-speakers from time to time. Besides safety tips, commuters are advised about tendering exact change while buying tickets, buying tickets to avoid having to pay a fine to the checking squad, avoiding footboard travel, not sticking their hands and heads out while travelling and not blocking the passage for commuters boarding a bus.
There is also advice for MTC crew members: They are asked to drive their buses at a low speed while entering and exiting the terminus, stop at the halting area, drive slowly near pedestrian crossings area, stop on the left side of the road while halting, look to both sides while turning left and right, and turn slowly at intersections.
“The move is in line with a directive from the State Transport Authority, Government of Tamil Nadu. The speakers will be fitted at major bus termini and at halting points on the arterial stretches across the city, in a phased manner. We request the commuters and the crew of the MTC to adhere to the rules and regulations to avoid accidents,” says an official of the transport corporation.
S. Durga, a resident of East Tambaram, says, “This is a good initiative by the MTC and State Transport Authority. The speakers should also be fitted in buses and messages should be in Hindi and English too.”
