8 November 2013

Bus hailing kits for visually impaired

| Barcham
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Bus

Shane Rattenbury today launched some new Bus Hailing Kits designed to help vision impaired passengers catch the right bus.

They seem ingenious in that perfect simple way that these things need to be.

“Following a successful trial, bus hailing kits will be made available to visually impaired people around Canberra to help them use buses to get around Canberra and access day-to-day activities which many of us take for granted,” Mr Rattenbury said.

“The bus hailing kit is a pocket-sized set of numbered cards that are printed with large text and Braille numbers, designed for use by visually-impaired people to help signal the bus they wish to board.

“The kits come with a clear plastic pouch with three slots for the desired route number. The inserts are in large print to help customers and drivers see them easily. A customer waiting at the bus stop holds the kit at shoulder height to signal to the bus driver.

Mr Rattenbury said that the ACT Government has worked closely with Vision Australia and Guide Dogs ACT since 2012 on refining the bus hailing kits, which are based on the same kits used successfully by a Canadian public transport provider.

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