Intelligent Bus Information System, (I.B.I.S.) should go a long way in ensuring travel is easier for visually impaired persons. At present, 12 bus stops across the Strathclyde region have been installed with the system.

The three-month pilot will allow vision-impaired bus passengers to use Brailled buttons to listen to the information.

Bus times are updated from the headquarters of Strathclyde Passenger Transport (S.T.P.) the organisation behind the scheme, and sent to units using wireless technology - General Packet Radio Service - and mobile phone technology from UK transport information provider Tandata. However, although audio information can be accessed on the next five buses due at each stop, complete bus timetables are only available on-screen for sighted passengers.

Referring to the talking bus stop system, S.T.P. information and support Officer Lindsey Mathie says that this is a base system and they see a lot of scope for improvement to make it friendlier to visually impaired persons.

Mathie adds that in future S.T.P. may install hardware that will allow passengers to carry a receptive fob, which will provide audible directions to I.B.I.S. bus stops. In tandem with the project, the directions to each of the bus stops from key locations have been published on location description service Describe Online.

A similar scheme using special handheld devices to trigger spoken bus information is already being used at 70 bus-stops in Bristol.