The same technology that drivers use to find their destinations could help people with learning or cognitive disabilities to exit a bus at the right stop.
For people with developmental disabilities like Down syndrome and Asperger’s syndrome, learning when to get off the bus can be one of the most challenging parts of using mass transit. Researchers in Florida are working on a technological innovation to try to ease the process using cell phone location technology similar to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that provide directions to automobile drivers.
A software-enabled cell phone known as the Travel Assistant Device, or TAD, would vibrate or make an announcement depending on the traveler’s disability, telling them when to request a stop and exit a bus or above-ground train. The software uses GPS capabilities and Java software that are already in many commercial cell phones. This is intended to keep the cost down and maximize the use of the device.
The software can also be programmed to work with Automatic Vehicle Location Monitoring Systems (AVLM) that some transit systems use to track the locations of buses. The phone could then tell the traveler how far away their bus is before they board.
In case a traveler becomes lost, the phone sends an alert to a third party such as a family member.
“By far, out of all the projects I’ve worked on, this has the greatest potential to impact people's lives,” said Sean Barbeau, a research associate at the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) in Tampa who is overseeing the TAD’s development. “When you really look at some of the people that are going to use this and tell you how it can potentially change their lives and provide greater independence, that is the most rewarding part.”
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