Category: News and Views
Better Traffic Information For The Blind
By Rolleiv Solholm
The Norway Post, Norway
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
The Norwegian Highway Department and the SINTEF research Group are hoping to introduce a new real time traffic information system for the blind and sight
impaired.
Tests have already been carried out in cooperation with the Association for the Blind.
The AKTA system is based on information via the mobile phone and the GPS system.
The buses must have a GPS based computer which keeps track of where the vehicle is at any given time, regardless of the official time schedule.
This system communicates with the blind person's mobile phone, which will give a spoken message when the bus is approaching the stop where he or she is
waiting.
On the bus, the GPS will communicate to the passenger when the bus is approaching the desired stop, which has been pre-set before the trip began.
The system will also inform the driver that a passenger wants to get off at the stop.
This will give the sight impaired easier access to public transport and at the same time help ensure that he or she does not get off at the wrong stop.
So far the tests have been carried out on the long distance route between Kristiansund and Aalesund, but the aim is to introduce the system nationwide.
Taken from
http://www.norwaypost.no/cgi-bin/norwaypost/imaker?id=106873.
*nods* They're doing (or already have done), this here in Madison. There are a couple other cities with it already in place here in the US. I think Portland is one of them. Rather useful from what I've heard from those that have used it.