Digital innovation: an application to guide blind and visually impaired passengers on the Ginko network in Besançon

Context: making all public transit more accessible

The Mobility Orientation Law of 2019 requires public and private entities to “facilitate and encourage the rollout of new solutions that empower everyone to get around”. The autonomy of people with disabilities is a critical issue for which Keolis has implemented a number of specific initiatives together with the municipalities where it operates.

Always in search of new solutions for improving transit accessibility and the passenger experience, Grand Besançon Métropole responded to a request from the Resource Center for the Visually Impaired (CRDV) to study the implementation of a digital guidance application developed by the startup Ezymob.

Innovation: a guidance application for blind and visually impaired passengers to expand the digital services of Ginko in Besançon

The startup Ezymob, Grand Besançon Métropole and Keolis Besançon Mobilités launched a testing phase between July and December 2022. Ten blind and visually impaired passengers installed the application on their smartphones and used it during their daily transit. The test group represented a wide range of disabilities and specific needs, including visually impaired passengers, blind passengers with and without a cane, with and without a guide dog, etc.

Adapted for the Ginko network in Besançon, the application uses artificial intelligence to offer three features:

•   identifying the doors of different vehicles (tram, bus, etc.) to guide the passenger directly to access points;

•   detecting empty seats to provide availability information and guide the passenger to an available seat;

•   audio guidance at complex interchanges to ensure safe entry and exit and simplify transfers.

Blind and visually impaired users thus benefit from an assistant that provides the information they need for their trip in real time, via video (large font on a screen) and/or audio.

Benefits: success among the application’s first users

The test on the Ginko network concluded at the end of 2022 on a positive note, the main point of caution relating to how blind and visually impaired passengers would adapt to using the application, given that it changes the way they normally use their smartphone.   

Following this adoption phase, the application received a warm welcome. Comments from the first users, compiled by Keolis Besançon Mobilités, show a high level of satisfaction and, above all, increased autonomy in all types of travel:

“The application is easy to understand and each step is clear and precise.” (Isabelle)

“I will be able to discover new places with this application.” (Dominique)

“This application helps me get off at the right stop, which is usually fairly complicated.” (David)

“A useful and practical application, especially when I’m traveling alone.” (Louna)

Next steps: rolling out Ezymob on 19 trams, 114 buses and 130 cars in fall 2023

The test demonstrated the application’s utility for blind and visually impaired passengers who use the Ginko network. Its rollout was approved and will be effective starting in September 2023, making 19 trams, 114 buses and 130 train cars more accessible to blind and visually impaired passengers. As Ezymob says: “Another step towards universal urban mobility”.