South Taiwan Bus Route 301 had a heart-warming encounter with the physically disabled children from the Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation. A number of Syin-Lu students are daily passengers on the Route 301 bus; the bus drivers not only provide a meticulous service that ensures ease of mind when students board and alight, but also make good friends with the students. The considerate service offered by the bus drivers have made these students so thankful that they hand-made thank you cards for the Route 301 drivers. Thus, this heart-warming and touching scene came about. In order to advocate a caring attitude for citizens among bus drivers and improve the bus-riding etiquette, the Transportation Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government specially launched the “Bus Driver Competition” activity. During the activity period, a thank you letter was received from the Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation. The story of this letter is about a Syin-Lu student surnamed “Siao Chen”, who lives near the Lotus Pond. Siao Chen takes the South Taiwan Bus Route 301 every day to go between home and the Syin-Lu Kaohsiung Branch. Siao Chen is a zealously helpful kid. Previously, when he was on the bus every day, he always helped passengers by ringing the bus bell before they wanted to get off. However, sometimes he might have mistaken the passengers’ intentions, making the driver stop the bus without anyone getting off. Such embarrassing situations dispirited Siao Chen, who never expected his zeal would result in disturbing others. Understanding the good will of Siao Chen, the South Taiwan Bus 301 drivers have given Siao Chen a special mission. At every stop, Siao Chen is now responsible for alerting passengers to watch for their own safety and beware of traffic on the right lane. One day, when Siao Chen returned home, he shared this happy experience with a Syin-Lu social worker, saying that he had been a great help that day. He even wrote a thank you card to thank this anonymous driver for making the best of Siao Chen’s good will and zeal. Just as Siao Chen does, many Syin-Lu students who take the 301 bus every day receive a lot of help from the drivers and passengers. Syin-Lu wanted to make an opportunity for their students to meet with the Route 301 drivers. A “Thank You” meeting was then held between the two parties at the International Convention Center Kaohsiung, where Syin-Lu students presented their hand-made thank you cards to the Route 301 drivers to express their sincere gratitude and offer the most direct encouragement for the bus drivers. Through contact with a Syin-Lu social worker surnamed Wu, the Transportation Bureau has come to know that Siao Chen suffers from epilepsy, and once suffered an outbreak on the bus. The Foundation also thanked the Route 301 bus drivers for helping their students. With the Transportation Bureau’s liaison, the Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation and South Taiwan Bus have signed a three-party agreement with the Bureau, supporting South Taiwan Bus to echo the “Support the Disabled for Social Participation” campaign, so that more social contributions could be extended from this thank you meeting. Director-general Chen Ching-fu of the Transportation Bureau commended the Syin-Lu students’ action of giving the thank you cards to the Route 301 bus drivers. Such heart-warming stories can thus be disseminated to the general public. Similar warm stories occur every day on Kaohsiung City’s buses. It is such considerate service and sharing that makes Kaohsiung an even friendlier city. (Contact: Section Chief Li Kuo-Cheng of the Transportation Management Section, 0963-111802)