Improvements toinfrastructure can help fulfil potential of transport apps

I read with interest the numerous ideas to improve commuter accessibility (“More than 180 take part in LTA youth hackathon”, April 20) presented at the Land Transport Authority’s recent Transport and You(th) Hackathon.

While these transport apps have the potential to improve the transport experience of commuters from all walks of life, their potential may not be fulfilled if they are not developed to maturity and better marketed to the public, especially their various target users.

In addition, the effectiveness of these apps can be enhanced with suitable infrastructural improvements, which can help to improve universal accessibility (“Public transport system: Use universal designs”, Voices, Jan 28).

One of the proposed apps, Happy Wheel, allows wheelchair users to upload and share convenient paths for travel. Indeed, more can be done to make the fare-gate-to-carriage journey easier for all public transport users. Extensive efforts have been made in other train networks to improve the quality of this journey. For example, trains on the JR East network in Japan, including those on the Yamanote and Chuo Lines serving Tokyo, are fitted with LCD screens that have messages personalised for each door informing passengers of their current position relative to the escalators, elevators and staircases on the platform of every station.

In addition, platform screen doors and train doors in the Tokyo and Kyoto subway networks in Japan are fitted with small Braille plates that inform visually-impaired commuters of their current train car and door position. Happy Wheel, complemented by infrastructural improvements and smart sensors on trains and platforms, can promote a safer and smoother fare-gate-to-carriage journey.

Another proposed app, Tell Me When, gives visually-impaired commuters a call when their desired bus is approaching the bus stop. Many other bus networks around the world have made the extra effort to make bus journeys smoother and safer for visually-impaired passengers. In Mumbai, India, BEST buses are equipped with the OnBoard system, which not only makes an announcement to passengers at the bus stop when a bus is arriving, but also guides the passenger to the bus door through strategically installed speakers on the bus.

Buses in many cities in the United Kingdom, India, Japan, the United States, Taiwan and other regions in the world also have onboard announcements guided by global positioning systems to inform passengers when the next stop is approaching. Together with infrastructural enhancements, Tell Me When can make bus journeys here easier for all passengers.

We can do more to make our public transport system universally accessible. The ideas at the Transport and You(th) Hackathon are promising, but they can only reach their full potential with rigorous fine-tuning, last-mile marketing to users, and complementary infrastructural upgrades.