OC Transpo buses to use external speakers to help visually impaired riders

People who are blind orvisually impairedwill soon be able to hear the number and direction of an OCTranspobus fromthe outside of the transit vehicle.

Ottawa city council approved an amendment to thenoise bylaw at its Feb. 22 meeting to allow the information to be announced on exteriorspeakers.

The announcement willbe made in both French and English, last between nine and 13 seconds, and be broadcast five to nine decibels louder than the ambient noise at a stop, and at an even quieter level after 9 p.m..

The city has been trying to make its services more accessible, said Coun.StephenBlais, whochairs the transit commission.

OC Transpo already has the speakers installed and the software updated so, after an actor voices them, the outside announcements should begin this spring, said Blais.

Frustrations catching a bus

The changecomes as great news to Richard Marsolais, a specialist in independent living skillsfor the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, who attended the council meeting.

"I'm totally blind and I avoid a lot of places like the Rideau Centre, Bank and Slater, any of the transit stations, because it's quitefrightening and it makes me very anxious," he said.

Marsolais saidhe constantly has to ask strangers for a bus number, which he said is difficult with so many people wearing earphonesthese days. Using bus hailing kits aren't ideal in winter, he added, and some drivers don't even notice them.

"It's not always feasible or practicalto have to rely on the kindness of strangers at the bus stop to ask them what the bus is," agreed Bronwyn Funiciello, a community advocate who is visually impaired.

It's not always feasible or practicalto have to rely on the kindness of strangers at the bus stop.- Bronwyn Funiciello

It can take her 45 minutes to an hour to finally find a bus that runs past every seven minutes, she said.

Marsolais even relatedhow oneclient has been too shy to ask a bus route number and has ended up lost on the wrong route.

The new announcement system will give people with visual impairments more independence, he said, but itwill also help others who simply can't decipher a bus route number when several buses are pulled up at a stop too closely together.