EU funds app to help older people navigate public transport

An app which aims to help older people navigate cities via public transport is being developed thanks to funding from the Seventh Framework Programme.

ASSISTANT aims to provide an online means of planning a trip, guidance on transfers when making multi-step journeys, an alert which tells the user when it is time to leave the vehicle and assistance with getting from the vehicle to the final destination.

The project will offer seamless support for the entire length of a journey, across different means of public transport and in both rural and urban environments. The target group for ASSISTANT is essentially mobile older people, but the system will be designed so that it is accessible for all potential users.

The ASSISTANT system will use simple, but effective and robust, technology which can be accessed using a home computer and a mobile phone, and provides only information that is relevant at a particular time, using visual, audible and haptic cues.

ASSISTANT will show the user which vehicle to board, indicate the vehicle’s arrival, and provide an alert when it is time to get off. The system will also have the capacity for detection and correction of any errors the user makes on a journey, and will be customised according to the precise needs and preferences of each user. Where location data are absent, the positioning of both the user and public transport vehicles will be estimated using a prediction function.