The elderly and people with disabilities often rely on public transport, and are often bewildered by some of the new automated ticket selling machines; for instance, the one on the London Underground has over 300 keys with very small lettering on each key.

There is a trend towards automatic systems for providing information about public transport services, but many of these systems are inaccessible to people with disabilities.

Problems with automated ticket and information services on public transport

In public transport services, many of the smart card systems are contactless to improve the speed of processing passengers; this is advantageous for many people with disabilities.

Ticket selling machines pose similar problems to ATMs, but they may include many more buttons and have poor quality visual displays. Many people with disabilities mentioned the need for audio output to guide them through the use of the machine. For non-disabled foreign visitors it might be desirable to offer a number of languages.

With a low floor bus, wheelchair access is usually by the door in the middle of the bus which is not in direct line of sight of the bus driver. A wheelchair user might use a distant contactless card to alert the driver and to trigger the extension of the wheelchair ramp. A similar contactless card could trigger an audio message beside the door giving the destination of the bus for visually disabled passengers.

Cost and number of users for various interfaces on public transport

1. This is the additional cost, if incorporated at the time of manufacture of a batch of terminals.

2. This is the estimated number of potential users per thousand passengers.

3. There would be a modest cost to modify the software, but no hardware modifications are needed.

4. Assuming that there is a suitable screen (eg. VGA), there would be a modest cost to modify the software, but no hardware modifications are needed. However enlarged text may involve using more screen pages which would increase the cost of modifying the software.

5. Assuming that there is a suitable screen (eg. VGA), there would be a relatively low cost to modify the software, but no hardware modifications are needed.

6. This could be stored digitally on a chip and output on a loudspeaker with the volume being dependent on the ambient noise level. The demand for this facility is likely to increase if the visual display has low visual contrast.

7. The demand for alternative languages is likely to be higher in areas popular with foreign tourists and in areas with a high proportion of people from ethnic minorities. There would be a cost associated with modifying the software, but no new hardware should be needed.

8. Assuming that there is a suitable screen (eg. VGA), there would be a cost to modify the software, but no hardware modifications are needed.

9. This would require a contactless smart card operating at a distance of 10 to 20 cm. If this replaced the conventional magnetic stripe reader, then the cost of the hardware and maintenance would be less than the magnetic stripe reader.

10. This would require a contactless smart card which would operate at a distance of at least five metres which would necessitate an extra circuit and aerial on the card.

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1. Diagram of user accessing automatic ticket dispenser by using audible cues
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2. Diagram of user extending ramp and opening train door according to preferences stored on smart card
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3. Diagram of user hailing and locating bus using smart card
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