Easier travel for visually impaired proposed

Audible reminds and signs in braille at local bus stops will make travel easier for visually impaired people, political advisers suggested at the Two Sessions.

According to a proposal filed by nine members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shanghai Committee, the city has been making efforts to make public transport easier for disabled people but there was a major problem of visually impaired people being unable to access information when taking a bus.

In 2005, Shanghai had its first bus sign in braille but the system hadn't been promoted or expanded widely.

And as a reminder service via loudspeakers when a bus arrived was terminated in 2001, the visually impaired had no access to timely information at bus stops.

It was noted that some other cities had started to take the issue into consideration. For instance, along with braille bus signs, Guangzhou provides voice reminder services to the visually impaired through an intelligent sensing system. Shenzhen also has similar mobile applications in place.

The political advisers suggested the government could upgrade the city's bus signs with braille and develop a voice system to give real-time information for the visually impaired.

The voice system could also be connected with the transport commission’s bus mobile application.

TV host Zang Xi, who led the proposal, told Shanghai Daily that the idea came from one of his TV interviews with a visually impaired where he learned about the transport difficulties.

"We hope every person with mobility difficulties can have a smooth way when traveling in the city,” Zang said. “Our construction of a barrier-free environment can allow them to travel by themselves and there's no need for them to wait and seek help from others."