MTC Introduces Special Bus Service for Deaf College Students in Adyar

Quick Summary

• Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) launched an exclusive bus service (S78) on September 11, 2025, for female students of St. Louis College for the Deaf in Adyar, based on a request by their hostel management.
• The bus picks up 20 speech- and hearing-impaired students at 7:15 a.m.near their hostel in Ashok Nagar and drops them back at around 2 p.m. after college hours.
• previously, these students relied on route number 5E buses with irregular schedules or had to commute via two buses, causing delays.
• Challenges included crossing the busy 100-feet road during morning rush hours, dealing with drivers unaware of their disability, and safety issues while traveling individually in search of transportation.
• The initiative addresses safety and convenience concerns raised by Guidance Home for Adult deaf Girls’ management and aims to ensure hassle-free commutes for these differently-abled students who come from other districts or states to pursue higher education.
• MTC staff verify every trip with signatures from the college management as part of operating norms; the small bus is reserved exclusively for these students during school runs but operates later as route S26.

Indian Opinion Analysis
The introduction of an exclusive MTC service signifies a commendable step toward inclusive urban mobility tailored to the specific challenges faced by differently-abled individuals. By recognizing the difficulties encountered by hearing-impaired girls in navigating city traffic safely-particularly on high-pressure routes like Ashok Nagar’s busy roads-the measure provides not only logistical relief but critical support fostering equality in accessing education.

This example underscores public institutions’ potential role when proactive collaboration occurs between stakeholders-in this case among colleges,hostels,and transport authorities-to address gaps overlooked in conventional systems.While beneficial locally here could signal scalable models test futurev