Madras HC Issues Directions To State & Transport Dept To Make Public Transport Disabled Friendly

The Madras High Court recently issued a slew of directives to the state, particularly the transport department, in an effort to make public transport in the state accessible to all, including people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women and children.

The court also modified a tender issued by the transport department to ensure that the State purchases more low-floor buses.

“It is made clear that the permission to purchase the high floor buses is granted only as an exception by this order, and all efforts should be made to purchase only low-floor buses in the ensuing years, in respect of the fleet which is to be run within the cities and its suburbs, the court observed.”

The directions were passed by a bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Vaishnavi Jayakumar challenging the Road Transport Department’s tender for 1107 High Floor buses.

Vaishnavi Jayakumar argued that the tender violated the Supreme Court’s directive in Rajive Rathuri vs. Union of India, which stated that all government buses should be disabled-friendly and in accordance with the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India, 2021. The court was also told of a previous ruling in which the High Court ruled that 10% of buses should be accessible to the disabled.

Though the State and the Transportation Department agreed that accessibility was necessary, it was claimed that there were practical issues such as poor road conditions, flooding during the rainy season, greater expenses, a lack of competition in procurement, and so on.

After hearing arguments, the court actively engaged in the exercise of directing one low-floor bus to be driven on some routes to understand the road conditions and was convinced that, despite some challenges, low-floor bus service was very much viable.

However, Senior Counsel PS Raman, representing the transport department, and Additional Advocate General J Ravindran, representing the State, briefed the court that a directive to acquire exclusively low-floor buses would result in financial restrictions, making it impractical for the State. They argued that the state’s current effort to buy 342 low-floor buses should be supported, and they assured the court that the state will make every effort to make transport accessible to the disabled.

The court agreed with this submission in part and ordered that the current tender for 1107 high-floor buses be modified and that the department instead purchase 950 high-floor vehicles and 157 low-floor buses.

The court also ordered that the procurement of the previously agreed-upon 342 low-floor buses be completed as soon as possible so that they can be used alongside the high-floor buses.

The court also ordered the city transport corporations to form a committee comprised of officials from the Transport Department, the Institute of Road Transport, the Metropolitan Transportation Corporation, and representatives from differently abled organizations to determine the routes and timing for low-floor buses.

The court suggested that mobile applications be established in metropolitan cities such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, and others to display the real-time movement of buses so that differently abled people can plan accordingly.

“Mobile applications shall also be developed in respect of each metropolitan city of Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, etc., which, in real time, should indicate the movement of these low floor buses for differently-abled persons to come to the bus stop and board the buses by properly planning their time,” the court stated.

The court also ordered the Municipal Corporations to work to enhance the quality of the roads, their maneuverability, and the installation of speed breakers to allow the low-floor buses to run smoothly.

In addition to scientifically designing, reconstructing, and repairing buses, the court ordered that drivers and conductors be given specific training to be patient and assist differently-abled people to board and alight the buses.

“Special training should be provided to the drivers and conductors of these low-floor buses, first to teach them to be patient enough to stop the bus and assist differently-abled/wheelchair bound commuters to board and exit the buses at their appropriate destinations,” the Court ordered.

The court also ordered that the orders be made available to automobile manufacturers in order to alert them to the rising demand for low-floor buses. The court stated that this would result in more players on the field, increasing supply of buses.