Technical report draft 3

Date: 9 November 2017

From: Team Lucent

To: Land Transport Authority

Cc: Brad Blackstone

RE: Enhancement of Commuting Experience for the Visually Impaired

Dear Sir,

I am Claudia Liu, an undergraduate from the sustainable infrastructure engineering programme at Singapore Institute of Technology. I am writing on behalf of my team, Team Lucent, to address an issue regarding the public bus transport system in response to the letter of authorisation. My team found out that visually impaired commuters are facing problems when taking the public bus alone. They do not know which buses are arriving at the bus stop and whether the buses that they are on have reached their destination.

Our research showed that the mentioned issue is increasing pressing given the anticipated increase in visually impaired commuters. We have developed two solutions to enable the visually impaired commuters, when travelling alone, to board the right bus and alight at the right stop every time.

Attached in this e-mail is the report of our research with details of our solutions. My team and I would like to express our gratitude to you for taking your time to read the proposal. Should you require more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at 1700123@sit.singaporetech.edu.sg.

Yours Sincerely,

Claudia Liu
Singapore Institute of Technology

Executive Summary

This report was written in response to the two challenges faced by the visually impaired commuters when using the existing public bus transport system. Specifically, knowing which buses are arriving at the bus stop and if the buses that they are on have reached their destination.

The objective of this report is to propose to the Land Transport Authority the implementation of solutions which use voice-operated technology into our public bus transport system. Voice-operated technology is recommended because the visually impaired commuters heavily depend on their sense of hearing. Hence, it is the most viable form of technology to assist them.

In this report, two solutions have been developed by Team Lucent, to address the above-mentioned challenges. A comparison between both solutions and evaluation of possible setbacks have also been included.

1     Introduction

For the past 13 years, Singapore has implemented several measures at public areas to assist people with disabilities, such as braille in lifts and tactile paving at traffic junctions (Society for Physically Disabled, 2014). Despite efforts made, the visually impaired commuters travelling alone still face difficulties transiting via public buses.

The two main problems faced by the visually impaired are: 1) knowing which buses are arriving at the bus stop and 2) whether the buses that they are on have reached their destination (Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, 2017). Their predicament was reported by Spykerman (2016), who described a visually impaired undergraduate, who recalled incidents when the bus captain forgot to inform her that she had reached her destination, which caused her to make detours.

Statistics on visual impairment in Singapore for gauging the extent of the problem are limited. An estimate derived using the study results of Wong et al. (2012) and the data from the Census of Population 2010 (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2011) show that about 175,000 adults who are above 40 years old are visually impaired. The number is likely to increase since "more people are at risk of age-related visual impairments as our population ages" (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2017). This is a substantial number.

The expected rise in the visually impaired warrants attention to ensure they are able to board the right public bus and alight at their desired stop all the time when travelling by themselves. It is timely to look into this issue as the Ministry of Transport has planned to make the public transportation system more inclusive (Ministry of Communications and Information, 2017).

3     Purpose Statement

This report proposes to the Land Transport Authority the adoption of “Bus Buddy” mobile application to enhance the commuting experiences of the visually impaired and encourage inclusivity in the design of public transportation system.

4     Proposed Solutions

Two ideas are proposed to improve the commuting experience of the visually impaired when travelling alone: 1) "Bus Buddy" mobile application and 2) the Lucent Bus Stop (LBS). Their features and functions are described below.

4.1   "Bus Buddy" Mobile Application

There are a few local application-based initiatives that help the visually impaired to travel using public bus, namely, Travel Assistant for the Visually Impaired and the Elderly (TrAVEl) (Neo, 2015), ICT-Travel (Salim, 2016) and Travel Assistant for the Visually Impaired (TAVI) (Tote Board, 2017) (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Two local application-based initiatives

(Retrieved from The Straits Times and The SMU Blog)

Publications on these initiatives did not include how the visually impaired would be assisted when there are multiple buses arriving at the bus stop and when they are alone (Figure 2). These initiatives are unlikely to address this aspect since their aim is to enable the visually impaired to travel independently. The proposed "Bus Buddy" solution aims to bridge this gap, thereby enabling the visually impaired to board the right bus and alight at their desired stop every time.

Figure 2. Challenges with existing initiatives

(Retrieved from The Straits Times)

The "Bus Buddy" mobile application consists of two components:

a.             "Bus Buddy” is a voice-operated bus service advisory mobile application that interacts with the visually-impaired user and processes his/her requests. It tracks and correlates the user's location against a map complete with information on bus stops and landmarks. It also taps into the Bus Information System (BIS) for real-time bus status.

b.             A transceiver-cum-display unit on each bus that transmits bus information (e.g. location) and receives alerts notifying the bus captain of visually impaired commuters at the next bus stop.

A simplified conceptual user - “Bus Buddy” interaction process is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Simplified conceptual user - “Bus Buddy” interaction process

4.2        Lucent Bus Stop

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has piloted a smart bus stop initiative where commuters can enjoy free Wi-Fi or even download an e-Book while waiting for their bus to arrive (Saiidi, 2017). While these initiatives are mainly for the general public, this initiative can be further expanded to include additional features to aid the visually impaired in their commuting experience.

The Lucent Bus Stop (LBS) is a revised version of the smart bus stop initiative. The LBS includes an interactive panel located in the bus shelter (see Appendix A) and a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display screen installed at the bus stop pole (see Appendix B). The interactive panel consists of a touch screen Liquid Crystal Device (LCD) display, an audio speaker and a real-time bus location system via Global Positioning System (GPS). The lower part of the interactive panel is a list of bus services available at the specific bus stop in braille.

Visually impaired using the interactive panel would begin by pressing the ‘push-to-talk’ button. The interactive panel will prompt the user to input their destination vocally (Figure 4). Upon receiving the user’s input, the interactive panel will respond with the bus service that the user should take to get to his/her destination.

Figure 4. User will press button and speak into the system the destination

When the panel prompts for a confirmation, the user would tap his/her SG enabled concession card on the card reader to confirm his/her selected choice (Figure 5).

Figure 5. User confirm his choice by tapping his concession card on card reader

Upon confirmation, the audio speaker will announce the selected bus service and the time taken to arrive at the bus stop. Concurrently, the LED display will indicate the flagged down bus number, together with a visually handicapped symbol (Figure 6), informing the bus captain that a visually impaired would be boarding the bus. This allows the bus captain to render necessary assistance.

Figure 6. Bus flag down process

When the flagged down bus arrives at the bus stop, the audio speaker will announce the bus number, notifying the visually impaired to board the bus (Figure 7). Once the bus left the bus bay, the system will be updated.

Figure 7. Interactive panel informs the visually impaired to board the bus

5     Evaluation

Touchscreen technology is growing rapidly and widely accepted as part of everyone lives. Solutions to the problem has been thought through thoroughly by the team and are feasible. There may still be some minor challenges to our solutions, however, with careful planning, these challenges can be mitigated.

5.1   Return on Investment

There could be a concern to whether the number of visually impaired commuters warrant the investment. This concern has been mitigated under the proposed progressive implementation approach starting with routes and bus services that have more visually impaired commuters. The mobile application could be extended to include other users such as tourists and those who are unfamiliar with the bus services and routes to achieve greater usability.

5.2   User Acceptance

5.2.1 “Bus Buddy” Mobile Application

Users of "Bus Buddy" are required to own a smart phone with an up-to-date operating system to ensure that the application works smoothly. More importantly, they have to bear the data usage cost. These cost-related concerns can be resolved by expanding the scope of the current "public transport concession scheme for persons with disabilities" to include subsidy for such expenses (Ministry of Social and Family Development, n. d.).

5.2.2 Lucent Bus Stop

Since the interactive panel is available for all to use, visually impaired commuters may need to wait for their turn to use it. This issue can be managed through the phased implementation to gauge the usage demand and cost-effective alternatives could be considered if needed.

5.3   Longer Travel Time

There may be concerns with the additional time required in travelling due to the requirement of the bus captain to aid the visually impaired on boarding and alighting of the bus. This issue is similar to wheelchair commuters. This issue, however, is  generally accepted as a social norm by majority and mitigated by the benefits that the visually impaired commuters would gain.

 

6     Methodology

The team used both primary and secondary research methods for our study. The team searched the internet for relevant information and asked SAVH specific questions related to this study.

6.1   Secondary Research

Online research on the visually impaired was conducted to learn about their challenges (Collins, 2013, and Spykerman, 2016), the extent of the problem (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2011, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2017, and Wong et al., 2012), the local and foreign initiatives launched to help them (Bennett, 2014, Metro, 2016, Neo, 2015, Salic, 2017, Superala, 2014, and Tote Board, 2017) and their familiarity with the technologies used - mobile and touchscreen technologies (Parderio, 2017 and Roa, 2014). This study allows the problem statement and the strategies of possible solutions for this assignment to be determined.

6.2   Primary Research

The team approached SAVH to gain deeper insights into the challenges faced by visually impaired commuters and their views on the strategies of our intended solutions through a questionnaire administered via email (see Appendix C). The team brainstormed the responses provided (see Appendix D) and the probable scenarios which refined the problem statement and enhanced the two solutions.

7     Conclusion

Visually impaired commuters who are travelling by themselves are still facing difficulties with boarding the right bus and alighting at the right stop despite efforts to integrate people with disabilities into the society. This problem will become more pressing given the anticipated increase in visually impaired persons. The proposed solutions, "Bus Buddy" mobile application and LBS, aim to solve this problem, thereby enhancing their commuting experience. It is timely to implement this improvement given the commitment of the Ministry of Transport to make the public transportation system a much better experience for all which would also contribute to making Singapore a more inclusive society.

 

8     References

Bennett, M. (2014, February 14). A new app aims to assist blind people navigate Perth's public transport network. ABC. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-14/new-app-helps-blind-to-navigate-public-transport-feature/5258776

Collins, G. (2013, July, 11). First person: Challenge faced by blind people using public transport. getreading. Retrieved from http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/first-person-challenge-faced-blind-5068294

Department of Statistics Singapore. (2011, January). Census of Population 2010 Statistical Release 1: Demographics Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion. Retrieved from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/publications/publications_and_papers/cop2010/census_2010_release1/cop2010sr1.pdf

Kah-Guan, A. E. & Chee-Chew, Y. (2007, October). Prevention of Blindness in Singapore: No Room for Complacency. Proceeding of the Eye 3rd Research Day Vol. 36 (Suppl) No. 10. Retrieved from http://www.annals.edu.sg/PDF/36VolNo10SupplOct2007/V36N10(S1)pS1.pdf

Metro. (2016, September 27). School launches navigational app for bus riders with visual impairments. Metro. Retrieved from http://www.metro-magazine.com/accessibility/news/715682/school-launches-navigational-app-for-bus-riders-with-visual-impairments

Ministry of Communications and Information. (2017, March 8). Towards a smarter, greener, and more inclusive public transport system. Retrieved from https://www.gov.sg/microsites/budget2017/press-room/news/content/towards-a-smarter-greener-and-more-inclusive-public-transport-system

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. (2017, October). Working together towards Blindness Prevention. Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth at the Rotary "Seeing Eye to Eye" International Seminar 2017. Retrieved from https://www.mccy.gov.sg/en/news/speeches/2017/Oct/Working%20together%20towards%20Blindness%20Prevention.aspx

Ministry of Social and Family Development. (n. d.). Public transport concession scheme for persons with disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.msf.gov.sg/assistance/Pages/Public-Transport-Concession-for-Persons-with-Disabilities.aspx

Neo, I. (2015, March 4). New bus app for visually impaired and elderly commuters. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/new-bus-app-for-visually-impaired-and-elderly-commuters

Parderio, C. (2017, Feb 22). Here's the brilliant way blind people use touchscreen devices like smartphones. Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-blind-people-use-smartphones-2017-2/?IR=T

Rao, V. (2014, February 7). How do blind users use smartphones? Assistive Technology Blog. Retrieved from http://assistivetechnologyblog.com/2014/02/how-do-blind-users-use-smartphones.html

Saiidi, U. (2017, March 7). We may have found the world's most hi-tech bus stop. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/07/singapore-smart-nation-this-bus-stop-is-transforming-the-daily-commute.html

Salim, Z. (2016, March 18). SMU-SIS students develop mobile for visually-impaired in Singapore. SIS-Asia. Retrieved from https://sis.smu.edu.sg/sites/sis.smu.edu.sg/files/%5Bcurrent-domain%3Amachine_name%5D/news_room/MISAsia_20160318_1.pdf

Society for Physically Disabled, (2014, March 14). Barriers To Integrating People With Disabilities In Mainstream Society. Retrieved from

http://www.spd.org.sg/updates/detail/barriers-to-integrating-people-with-disabilities-in-mainstream-society-72.html

Supeala, D. (2015, June 5). World premier: large scale ibeacons network guides visually impaired people to use the public transportation service. Onyx Beacon. Retrieved from https://www.onyxbeacon.com/world-premiere-large-scale-ibeacons-network-guides-visually-impaired-people-to-use-the-public-transportation-service/

Sypkerman, K. (2016, Nov 19). For Singapore's visually-impaired, public transport is a daily challenge. Channel News Asia. Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/for-singapore-s-visually-impaired-public-transport-is-a-daily-ch-7712658

The Tote Board. (2017, July 25). Navigation app for the visually impaired. Retrieved from http://www.toteboard.gov.sg/news-events/latest-news/navigation-app-for-the-visually-impaired

Wong, T. Y., Zheng, Y., Wong, W. L., Lamoureux, E. L., Wang, J. J., Mitchell, P., Cheung, N., Aung, T., Saw, S. M. & Cheng, C. Y. (2012, March). The Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment and Blindness in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Population: The Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Disease (SEED) Study. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, March 2012, Vol. 53, 5640. Retrieved from http://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2359339

Critical reflection

Personally, I feel that this module has helped me to improve my writing and presentation skills. Throughout this entire course, I am given opportunities to practice my writing through the given assignments such as the technical report and reader’s response. I am also given opportunities to practice my presentation skills through the mini discussions during class.

I have learnt that writing a couple of drafts are necessary and getting feedbacks and reviews from my classmates and lecturer are also essential to make improvement in my writing skills. The more I write, the better I will become. I am grateful that I can work together with my classmates as a group to complete a technical report.

Working as a group is not so easy. As everyone has a different writing style, how the ideas are being discussed is not effectively bring across to the readers. Many times, during proof-reading and editing of the report, there is minor conflict between me and my group members with regards to the style of writing. For example, if a crucial point is stated in the group report, the way the sentence is structured and paraphrased may give the reader a wrong understanding, which resulted in a conflict. Although such conflict may happen, my group is able to resolve quickly by self-analysis or by seeking other people or the lecturer for help. I would also like to thank my group mates for helping me to correct the grammatical errors and improve on my writing.

As stated in my first blog post that I hope to improve my writing, I feel that I have improved insignificantly in my writing. To improve more significantly, I would need to write and read more often.

Analytical reflection on Oral Presentation

Reflecting back on the oral presentation, I felt that my presentation was not up to expectation. I have a lot to improve on, but for this post presentation reflection, two major aspects will be discussed.

Firstly, the delivery of the presentation. As compared to my group mates, I think I am not doing as well as them. This is because during the presentation, I felt a bit nervous and my delivery was not fluent. I will tend to stutter when I feel nervous. I may know my parts well, but when I stutter, it gives the audience a feeling that I am not prepared.

Secondly, eye contact with the audience. After looking through the oral presentation feedback given by my classmates, some of them say I do not have much eye contact with the audience. I do agree with them that sometimes during my presentation, I will tend to lose eye contact by looking at the ground because I am thinking about what to say next. I know that having eye contact with the audience is very important because this will allow me to build rapport and make connections. Without any eye contact, the audience can lose interest in my presentation.

In conclusion, the above-mentioned points are two critical points that I should work on. Having a good presentation and wow the audience do not just come suddenly, it will take time to practice and perfect it. The oral presentation of this group project provides a good platform for me to understand my weakness and work on it to perfect it.

Even though presentation can be a little daunting for me, as I am not so good with public speaking, but with more practices and being more confident, I am sure that I can do well in it.

Reader's Response Draft 4

In the article “Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road” Tan (2017) reported that the LED strips implanted in the walkways create safety awareness for pedestrians to stay alert on the road. The half-year pilot by Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be implemented at two different junctions, proximity to well-known establishments of high human traffic. The LED strips are conspicuous, resembling the conventional red and green man traffic signals. Public’s response on the suitability and functional use of the LED strips will be first evaluated before making it available to other junctions. “According to the Traffic Police” (Tan, 2017), elderly pedestrians contribute to considerable proportion of accidents. While the implementation of LED strips aims to create awareness for all pedestrians, the dangers of distracted walking are still on the rise and this requires attention.

Distracted walking causes personal accident and results in increasing the chance of getting injured. In the article “Dangers of texting while walking” (Adam S. Kutner, n.d.), an example of such incident occurred at a subway station in the United States, where a man is texting on his phone and he is so obsessed until he falls onto the train track. He manages to get out of the track safely as the train had yet to arrive at the station. As technologies advance, these smartphone addicts put too much focus on their phones during walking. They tend not to notice something or someone in front of them; resulting in an accident.

As the use of mobile gadgets have increasingly become part of everyday life, taking eyes off from the road and being unaware of the surrounding is life threatening. In the article “Caught on dash cam: Girl, checking phone, is hit while crossing road at green man” (Ho, 2015), a video of a girl knocked down by a taxi circulated rapidly. In this video, the young girl was seen crossing the traffic junction while using her phone, oblivious to the oncoming taxi approaching her making a right turn. As the taxi could not stop in time, she got knocked down. Although the traffic light is in her favour, she should still be alert and pay more attention to her surroundings instead of assuming the vehicle will stop for her while crossing the road.

A research study conducted by Pew Research Centre has showed that young adults of age range 18 to 24 are susceptible to injury from colliding into a person or static object while using their phone during walking (Maminta, 2014). This age range is the highest amongst the rest of the people surveyed. In another article, Lee (2015) reported that a group of four undergraduates from Nanyang Technological University conducted a survey on distracted walking. A total of 419 youth aged 17 to 25 were surveyed and 598 accidents were disclosed. From the students’ findings, the three main causes of distractions are listening to music, texting and talking on the phone. Other consequences include trip and fall and horned by vehicles.

In conclusion, although the LED strips may be effective in tackling smartphone addicts, however the responsibility still lies on individual to keep a safe lookout. Accidents can be avoided when these ‘smartphone zombies’ stop using their mobile gadgets and be wary of their surroundings.

Reference:

Adam S. Kutner. (n.d.). Dangers of texting while walking. Retrieved October 12, 2017, from

https://www.askadamskutner.com/pedestrian-accident/dangers-of-texting-while-walking/

Ho, O. (2015, April 24). Caught on dash cam: Girl, checking phone, is hit while crossing road at green

man. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/caught-on-dash-cam-girl-checking-phone-is-hit-while-crossing-road-at-green-man

Lee, P. (2015, February 10). Using your phone as you walk may get you in an accident. The Straits

Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/using-your-phone-as-you-walk-may-get-you-in-an-accident.  

Maminta, J. (2014, January 08 ). Have You Experienced 'Distracted Walking' While Using Your Cell

Phone?. International Business Times, Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com.au/have-you-experienced-distracted-walking-while-using-your-cell-phone-1328762.

Tan, C. (2017, May 10). Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. The Straits

Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/floor-lights-help-smartphone-zombies-keep-eye-on-the-road.

Technical report draft 2

Transmittal Letter

Date: 9 November 2017

From: Team Lucent     

To: Land Transport Authority

Cc: Brad Blackstone

Subject: Enhancement of Commuting Experience for the Visually Impaired

Dear Land Transport Authority,

I am Claudia Liu, an undergraduate from the Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering program at Singapore Institute of Technology. My team and I were tasked to research and think of possible engineering solutions that tackles some real-life issues people still faces today. Upon that, my group arrived at the perpetual issue of the visually impaired facing difficulties when taking public bus alone.

Attached is our proposal report that consists of a couple of engineering solutions that can be used to resolve the mentioned issue. The proposal report includes information of the current situation that the visually impaired are in when travelling alone by buses services from LTA and our proposed solutions to the problem.

We genuinely thank You for your time and should you need any further information, please let us know. Your consideration of our proposal is greatly appreciated.

Yours Sincerely,

Claudia Liu

Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services)

Singapore Institute of Technology

1 Introduction

Singapore has implemented many measures to help people with disabilities integrate into the community in the last 13 years (Society for Physically Disabled, 2014) such as incorporating braille in lifts. Despite efforts made, visually impaired commuters travelling alone still face difficulties transiting via public buses.

The two main problems faced by the visually impaired are knowing which buses are arriving at the bus stop and whether the buses that they are on have reached their destination (Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, 2017). Their predicament was reported by Spykerman (2016), where a visually impaired undergraduate recalled of incidents when the bus captain forgot to inform her that she had reached her destination which caused her to make big detours.

Statistics on visual impairment in Singapore for gauging the extent of the problem is limited. An estimate derived using the study results of Wong et al. (2012) and the data from the Census of Population 2010 (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2011) shows that about 175,000 adults who are above 40 years old are visually impaired. This indicative number excludes children and adults below 40 years old. The number is likely to increase since "more people are at risk of age-related visual impairments as our population ages" (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, 2017).

The expected rise in the visually impaired percentage warrants attention to ensure they are able to board the right public bus and alight at the right stop every time and all the time when travelling by themselves.

2 Problem Statement

Visually impaired commuters travelling alone often face challenges with boarding the right bus and alighting at their desired stop. Unless technologies such as mobile phone applications and voice-operated system are implemented, travelling alone by bus would still be inconvenient for the visually impaired.

3 Purpose Statement

This report proposes ideas to the Land Transport Authority to enhance the commute experiences of the visually impaired and encourage inclusivity in the design of public transportation system.

4 Proposed Solutions

4.1 "Bus Buddy" Mobile Application

There are a few local application-based initiatives that aimed to help the visually impaired travel more independently on public buses, namely, Travel Assistant for the Visually Impaired and the Elderly (TrAVEl) (Neo, 2015), ICT-Travel (Salim, 2016) and Travel Assistant for the Visually Impaired (TAVI) (Tote Board, 2017). Publications on these initiatives did not include information on how the visually impaired would be assisted when needed, e.g. when alerted on arrival of needed bus, which of the buses that have just arrived at the bus stop should the visually impaired board especially when there is no one else at the bus stop. These initiatives are unlikely to address this aspect since their focus is to enable the visually impaired to travel without help. The proposed "Bus Buddy" solution aims to bridge this gap thereby enabling the visually impaired to board the right bus and alight at the right stop every time.

Figure 1. Challenges with Existing Initiatives

(Retrieved from The Straits Times - link can be placed at the bottom)

http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/media-brightcove/4840468503001.jpg

http://static6.uk.businessinsider.com/image/573483e552bcd044008c27d0/this-google-backed-project-is-helping-blind-people-navigate-cities-using-only-their-smartphones.jpg)

The "Bus Buddy" solution consists of two components:98

1. "Bus Buddy”, a voice-operated bus service advisory handphone application that interacts with the visually-impaired user and processes his/her requests.

2. A transceiver-cum-display system on bus that transmits bus information (e.g. location) and receives alerts notifying the bus captain of visually impaired commuters at the next bus stop.

A simplified conceptual flow of the “Bus buddy” mobile application will be shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Simplified Conceptual Process Flow of the "Bus Buddy" Solution

4.2 Smart Bus Stop

The Urban Redevelopment Authority has piloted a smart bus stop initiative to make waiting more enjoyable for commuters such as connecting to free Wi-Fi or download an e-Book (Saiidi, 2017). The initiative can be expanded to include features to improve the commuting experiences of the visually impaired.

The features of the smart bus stop include a user interactive panel located in the bus shelter (see Appendix B) and a LED display screen installed at the bus stop pole (see Appendix C). The interactive panel incorporates a touch screen LCD display monitor, an audio speaker, real time bus location system as well as bus services information in braille at the lower part of the interactive panel, allowing the visually impaired commuters to find out the bus services available at the bus stop. The LED display will show the bus number selected by the commuter at the bus stop.

The user interactive panel is pre-installed with a journey planner application, allowing the visually impaired commuter to plan his/her travelling journey via the shortest travelling time. When the interactive panel sound off and prompt to input the destination, the visually impaired commuter will press the “push to talk” button below the screen panel and speak into the voice recognition device embedded in the panel his/her end location as shown in figure 3. The journey planner will then automatically display and tell the commuter the shortest travelling route. This makes journey planning a smooth process.

Figure 4. User will press button and speak into the system the end destination

When the system prompt for a confirmation, the visually impaired commuter would then tap the SG Enabled concession card on the card reader to confirm his/her selected choice as shown in figure 4.

Figure 5. User confirm their choice by tapping the concession card on the card reader

Upon confirmation, the audio speaker will announce the selected bus service and the time taken to arrive at the bus stop. Concurrently, the LED display will indicate the flagged down bus number and a visually handicapped symbol as shown in figure 3, informing the bus captain that a visually impaired commuter would be boarding the bus. This allows the bus captain to render necessary assistance.

Figure 6. Bus flag down process

When the flagged down bus arrives at the bus stop, the audio speaker will then announce the bus number, notifying visually impaired to board the bus as shown in figure 6. Once the bus left the bus bay, the LED display will be updated again.

Figure 7. User interactive panel informs the visually impaired commuters to board the bus.

4.3 Comparison of Solutions

The two solutions are compared against common project selection criteria and tabulated in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Comparison of Solutions

Criteria	“Bus Buddy” Mobile Application	Smart Bus Stop
Ease of Use	·     Voice-based application in personal handphone is within reach of the user ·     Visually impaired listen to his handphone for his personalised bus arrival message. ·       Bus captain can see display on bus dashboard	·    Visually impaired listen to all broadcasted messages, including those for other visually impaired, for his bus arrival. ·    Bus captains have to notice LED display on bus pole from afar under all lighting conditions
Reliability	·       Able to alert user to alight at chosen end destination	·       Alert the user to alight at end destination is not possible
Implementation Effort	·       Development of “Bus Buddy” application and installation of transceiver-cum-display system in bus ·       Users have to download apps and learn how to use ·       Cheaper to implement	·       Installation of touch panels and LED displays ·       User just have to learn how to use ·       Costly to implement ·       Require more Maintenance
Disturbance to Public	·      Lesser especially with use of earphones	·       Need to be loud enough for visually impaired in the bus stop to hear, this might cause disturbance to residents living nearby
Bus location information	·       Unable to show the location of the bus	·       Able to provide real time information on the bus location via GPS

4.4 Action Plan

A phased implementation approach starting with a pilot trial is recommended. The trial would produce feedback for refinement of solution before actual implementation thereby maximise user acceptance and minimise failure risk.  The trial is proposed to be conducted with services that ply routes that pass Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped and its school to have enough feedback. Implementation is recommended to be progressive starting with routes that have more visually impaired commuters given the investment needed to modify the buses. This approach enables the visually impaired to have a solution that best meet their needs (of boarding the right bus and alighting at the desired stop) with public funds used prudently.

5 Evaluation

Touchscreen technologies are part of our lives for almost everyone and at everywhere. Solutions to the problem have been thought through carefully by the team and are feasible solutions. There may still be some potential challenges to our solutions, however, with careful planning, these challenges can be mitigated.

5.1 “Bus Buddy” Mobile Application

5.1.1 Personal Medium

The use of mobile application will mean that a smartphone is required. For this to work, the visually impaired commuter will be required to own a smartphone and ensure that the operating system is up to date for the application to run smoothly.

5.1.2 Requiring the Assistance of Bus Captain/ Public Commuters

In the rare event of multiple visually impaired commuters at a single bus stop, bus captain(s) would have to look out for the visually impaired commuters who wish to board his bus.

5.1.3 Installation of transceiver-cum-display unit

Installation of the transceiver-cum-display units in all buses may be could be costly. To overcome this, it is recommended that it is first implemented on bus services that visually impaired commuters would commonly take.

5.2 Smart Bus Stop

5.2.1 Usage of System not Maximised

Bus stop will only sound off when a visually impaired commuter flags down a bus. The system may be implemented at every bus stop, however it may not be the case that a visually impaired person frequents every bus stop in Singapore, there could be a possible case where bus stops will not sound off for weeks, months or even longer. Furthermore, if a system is not frequently used, it would not be known if it still in working condition.

5.2.2 Costly to Implement

It can be foretold that the implementation of this system at every bus stop in Singapore would be costly due various factors such as labour and material.

5.2.3 System Maintenance

Common to all electronics, machines require maintenance and there is also a possibility of the machine breaking down. This would mean that manpower labour and cost would definitely be involved

5.2.4 Single User System

As mentioned previously that it would benefit the general public, there may be instances where multiple users wish to use the smart interactive board, needing to wait. When there is someone using it, other commuters need to wait.

6 Methodology

6.1 Online Research

To understand how the visually impaired uses smartphones or touchscreen devices on a daily basis, our team went online and researched on ways the visually impaired operates these devices. From there, we are able to figure out how our solution should be crafted.

6.2 Email Exchange with Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH)

With some knowledge after research and discussion within the team, an email was sent to SAVH to further understand the current situation on how the visually impaired commutes via public buses and the difficulties they face. We have also gotten feedback from the association by presenting our ideas. With this information, we were able optimise our solutions to suit to the needs of the visually impaired.

6.3 Worst Case Scenario

The team came together to discuss on the worst possible scenario that could happen and the possibility of it happening. From the discussion, we were able to further improve our solutions/ minimise the impact in the event of the worst case scenario without jeopardizing the main idea or functionality of our solutions.

7 Conclusion

Singapore is actively trying to aid the disabled in their lives, the proposed solutions serve to alleviate the prolonged problems the visually impaired face when travelling alone by public bus. The difficulty to perform basic tasks such as taking public bus independently is a major life inconvenience for the visually impaired. As such, it is important to implement methods that can help these group of people.

The proposed solutions in this report involves using voice operated technology on mobile application and on interactive screen. This is because as the visually impaired heavily depend on their sense of hearing to perform their daily tasks, the use of voice operated technology would be the most beneficial and suitable for them.

With the implementation of  these solutions,  much convenience would be brought to the visually impaired and so, LTA can expect a more satisfied group of commuters.