All Aboard! Travelling on Public Transport with Sight Loss

As a person with sight loss, I do need assistance to perform certain tasks, but I like to be as independent as possible and travel by myself as much as I can. Using public transport is a great way of getting around. However, taking buses and trains has its complications if you are blind. In this blog, I will look at how I use public transport and how it could be improved.

Common Accessibility Issues

Taking buses is a good way to travel in your local area, as there are multiple bus stops and you can generally get close to where you want to go. When waiting at a bus stop, there will be multiple buses that will use the stop. It is therefore really difficult to tell if the bus that has stopped is the one you need. You can ask someone standing at the bus stop to check the bus number for you, but this may not always be practical. There may be a visual display informing commuters of the bus numbers and when they are arriving, but this is not accessible to blind travellers.

When I am on the bus, and the bus stops, I am not aware of what stop I have arrived at. You could ask the driver to let you know when your stop is approaching, and most drivers will be obliging, but there could be an issue if the driver forgets, which has happened to me on more than one occasion.

I find trains a lot easier to use. Train apps are generally quite good, where they tell the commuter what time the train is due, and even lets me know if it is going to be a couple of minutes late.

There are also generally audio announcements at the station, informing me of which train is approaching, and there is a tone when the doors can be opened, and the buttons on the doors are tactile. There can be audio announcements on the train of which stop is approaching, but this can have its own issues. There are occasions when the announcements are not working or not turned on, so I will have no idea which station I am pulling into. An even more dangerous situation is when the announcements are out of sync!

I have been on trains in the past, and I got off at my station that was announced over the PA, but the announcements were out of sync, so I have got off one stop before my intended stop. I then had to wait half an hour for the next train!

Potential Accessibility Solutions

These are some issues with public transport, but there are also some potential solutions and ways that these can and should be addressed:

Accessible Tracking

With technology the way it is, navigation could be a very useful tool for knowing which buses are approaching. If a tracker was on the bus, or even if the bus driver's phone had navigation activated, then this could be fed into an app or an audio speaker at the bus stop to inform people of when the bus is arriving.

All bus companies have their own app, so the data could be accessed this way. There is a caveat, however. The accessibility of bus apps is very sporadic, so the platform used would need to be first of all checked for accessibility to ensure it can be used with assistive technologies on mobile devices.

Assistance and Training for Transport Workers

When travelling by bus, you could carry a Help To Travel Card, which informs the driver of your disability. They would then be able to offer appropriate assistance.

Audible Announcements for Buses

If the bus stops were announced as they were being approached, this would be of great benefit and allow me to be fully aware of where I am in relation to my final destination.

Talking buses are running in some areas, but not in Glasgow, where I live. The strange thing is that certain stops are announced, such as hospitals and landmarks, so they do have the facilities available to announce stops, but these are not being used to their full potential.

Solutions for Train Travel

A simple solution for train travel is to ensure the train announcements are on and in sync.

Another solution that train operators offer, which I have already used, is a great service called ‘Passenger Assist’. This involves booking assistance beforehand, letting the train operators know which trains you are using and the timings, and then a member of staff at the station will help you off and on any trains on your journey. Even if you don’t book in advance, you can talk to a member of staff, and they will generally radio ahead to your next station to arrange assistance for you.

This service can be used for any type of assistance, from sighted guiding to helping with your luggage if you have mobility issues.

Final Thoughts

Public transport has some way to go until it is fully accessible, but they are always improving, and with a few extra simple tweaks, public transport can become more accessible to more people.