Audio triggers to help visually impaired find right bus stops

Fifteen KMB bus stops in Sham Shui Po have been installed with an announcement device to help visually impaired people know where to queue.

Visually impaired persons will get a sensor card that will trigger the device within three meters, with the device announcing the bus routes.

The sensor cards also work even if placed in pockets or backpacks, KMB said.

The 15 bus stops are mainly located at Cheung Sha Wan Road and Nam Cheong Street, where social welfare organizations serving the visually impaired are located.

They cover 61 routes, serving areas including Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Hong Kong Island. The company invited 10 volunteers from the Hong Kong Society for the Blind to test the devices and sensor cards.

One of them, Fung, lives in Tse Wan Shan and travels by bus six days a week.

He said the devices have been useful.

"I relied on my memory or asked people to find the bus stop," Fung said of his experience in the past. But now he felt "more confident and secured" when going out alone.

Another member, Wong, wished the devices could include the arriving bus route and the waiting time for the next bus.

The society has distributed sensor cards to 75 members.

KMB corporate communications head Kenny Kan Hok-hei said the trial will last six months and the company will collect opinions from users about the devices.

Kan said the scheme may be expanded to include more stops in Sham Shui Po and other districts.

Sham Shui Po district officer Paul Wong Yan-yin said the Home Affairs Department funded the device at HK$5,000 each.