Qingdao Daily/Guanhai News, October 26 - From one individual to a group, from a single route to an entire city, Route 320 of the Tunnel Bus Company, under the Qingdao City Transport Holdings Public Transport Group, has paved a warm path of barrier-free travel for passengers with special needs through daily dedication.
On the morning of October 13, when driver Bian Tao arrived at the Gaoxiong Road station, a visually impaired passenger was preparing to board. He immediately got up to help the passenger swipe their card and carefully assisted them to a seat, only starting the vehicle slowly after confirming they were seated securely. Such seemingly ordinary actions are part of the daily routine for the drivers of Route 320.
Bian Tao, a "Star of City Transport" and a model worker for the Public Transport Group, has been driving on Route 320 for 18 years. An act of kindness towards a visually impaired passenger four years ago made him deeply concerned about this special group. By chance, he noticed a volunteer platform recruiting volunteers to help students from a school for the blind return home, and he signed up without hesitation.
Since 2022, on the eve of every holiday, he has collaborated with the Qingdao Accessibility Promotion Association, using his personal time to drive to the school for the blind. He uses his own car to safely transport groups of students to major transportation hubs such as Qingdao North Railway Station, Lanshan Road Railway Station, and the airport. For every trip, he arrives early, drives steadily, and carefully confirms each child's needs upon arrival, only leaving with peace of mind after seeing them safely handed over to other volunteers.
"The children may not see the world, but they can feel its warmth." This simple phrase represents the original aspiration Bian Tao has upheld for years. To his delight, this kindness is spreading: "My small effort provides tangible help to the children. Now, my colleagues on the route have also voluntarily joined in, using their private cars to transport students from the school for the blind during holidays."
Inspired by Bian Tao, 13 drivers from Route 320 have formed the "Qingdao School for the Blind Accessibility Support Group." They focus on the needs of passengers with special needs, proactively connect with the school, and provide targeted services during their rest time. With the advancement of the Public Transport Group's "Six Actions" initiative, in September 2025, the route further deepened its cooperation with the school, upgrading the service to dedicated bus transportation. Fixed departure times and standardized service procedures have made the students' journey home smoother and more reassuring.
To enhance service quality, the Seventh Branch of the Tunnel Bus Company, which oversees Route 320, regularly organizes training for assisting the blind and sign language workshops. Hands-on instruction, from basic guiding techniques to professional communication in sign language, enables drivers to both offer timely help and provide professional service when encountering passengers with disabilities.
"In the past, when children from the deaf community thanked me in sign language, I could only respond with a smile. Now that I have learned sign language, I can better understand their needs and my service is more attentive," one driver remarked, expressing the change brought about by professional training. Currently, the route's drivers have mastered over 30 short phrases for communicating with hearing-speaking impaired passengers, gradually breaking down the barriers of the silent world.
This warmth extends beyond the students of the school for the blind. Recognizing that Route 320 has a high number of elderly passengers and passes through residential communities and business districts, making it inconvenient for them to board with heavy items, driver Bian Tao innovated the "One-Step Boarding Method." He begins to decelerate about 30 meters before a stop, prepares to brake at 20 meters, and applies the brakes gently at 10 meters, striving to stop the bus smoothly within about 30 centimeters of the platform, allowing passengers to step on board in a single stride. The method has been widely praised by passengers and is now being promoted as a "service model" throughout the Public Transport Group. In 2024, Route 320 driver Liu Hongbo and his colleagues signed a "Service Pledge for Assisting the Elderly," promoting the "One-Step Boarding Method" to provide convenient services for elderly passengers with limited mobility. He also created a "Love in Transit" elderly assistance cooperation booklet, placed inside the bus, inviting passengers to join this relay of love, forming a new model of on-and-off-bus collaboration to help the elderly.
From Bian Tao's individual act of kindness to the systematic service of an entire route; from the small space behind the steering wheel to the flowing scenery of a whole city… Route 320, with its mission of "Sincerely Carrying a Better Journey," continues to extend the radius of love. This is not just an upgrade in public transport service, but also a vivid embodiment of the warmth and civilization of a city. (Qingdao Daily/Guanhai News Reporter Zhou Jianliang, Correspondent Sun Jiahao)
Editor: Yuan Ruichen
