Analysis and Proposed Improvements in the Support for the Visually Impaired in the Use of Public Transportation

摘要

This paper proposes an improvement in an already existing service in Recife, Brazil that notifies the visually impaired of the time a bus arrives at a bus stop and the time they should get off a bus. Statistics on the number of visually impaired people around the world as well as some information about the main challenges they face in urban areas will be presented. This paper will also present the concept of SmartCity and some solutions designed around it. Finally, a solution is proposed in order to mitigate problems visually impaired people face when using public transportation. It is expected that this application will benefit not only blind people, but also any person who has a mobility impairment.