New app to improve public transport accessibility in South Australia
Catching public transport can be tricky for people with visual impairments in part because of the difficulties hailing down an approaching bus. But it's hoped a trial in South Australia will make the process easier allowing people to digitally alert bus drivers when they're waiting at a stop.
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00:00 Cassie Hames has often found herself stranded on the side of the road when trying to catch public transport.
00:08 I could be wearing a high-vis vest and holding a sign and I'm still left behind.
00:13 The bus either doesn't see me, doesn't know I'm there and continues driving past.
00:18 Ms Hames is legally blind and that makes it difficult for her to be able to hail the right bus when it's approaching.
00:25 It's what prompted the software programmer to develop a new app to help people with visual impairments navigate public transport.
00:32 This app will allow people to hail a bus ahead of time.
00:37 So you can select your pick-up stop as well as your destination stop.
00:41 The See Me app links to the bus on-board system which digitally notifies the driver that a passenger is waiting.
00:48 Passengers then receive spoken, visual and haptic notifications as the bus approaches the chosen destination
00:55 and the vehicle stop bell is automatically pressed.
00:58 It gives us a greater opportunity to go hang out with friends, go to a cafe, get to work, not be late because we've missed the bus or whatever.
01:09 It just helps increase our independence.
01:12 The new system will be trialled on Adelaide Metro's City Connector buses for the next six months
01:18 and Ms Hames hopes it will eventually also be used for the city's trams and trains.
01:23 Of all the innovations in public transport, other than decarbonisation,
01:27 this could be one of the most significant innovations in public transport we've ever seen.
01:31 The app is also expected to be trialled in Queensland and New South Wales.
01:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]