New RFID Enabled Bus Assists Blind Passengers

An entire fleet of 70 buses and 260 stops are now RFID enabled to assist blind passengers, in a Swiss town called St. Gallen, according to an article published yesterday by RFID Journal. The public transit system (Verkehrsbetriebe St. Gallen, VBSG) recently launched a small 15-rider trial, and is expected to expand the trial in August to include up to 250 blind passengers.

The RFID system includes both active and passive RFID mechanisms. A handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) for blind passengers, called Bones Milestone, contains a high frequency (HF) RFID reader, an active ultra high frequency (UHF) transceiver, a digital voice recorder and MP3 player.

The multi-featured device communicates with UHF RFID devices on the buses and the passive HF RFID tags at the bus stops. As the bus approaches, the device notifies the passenger of the bus’ arrival, and lets the driver know that a blind passenger will be boarding at the upcoming stop. Upon boarding and waving the PDA past the RFID component in the timetable sign, the handheld device reads the encoded route information from the timetable to the user.

The PDA device was released just last year and already has up to 4,000 users throughout the world, according to Stepen Knecht, managing director of Bones, the company which manufactures the handheld device.

Once users own the PDA, they can use the RFID capability for a number of other functions by purchasing inexpensive passive HF RFID tags to attach to various objects.

The RFID transit program, which costs the equivalent of over 740,000 USD, is funded by several organizations, including the Swiss public transport agency (VBSG), the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs, the Swiss Federation of the Bind and Visually Impaired, and Bones, which donated the readers and engineers to get the program running.

The transit system may use RFID for ticketless travel if the experience with this technology continues to be positive, according to a quote from Ralf Eigenmann, managing director of VBSG.

For more information, see the original article.

Would an RFID solution help take your company to the next level?

Dynamic Computer is a great source for RFID information and can help you evaluate how RFID could enhance your operation. We provide comprehensive and customized RFID solutions from concept, through testing, to implementation!

Visit the Dynamic Computer Corporation Web site or call 248-473-2200. We offer an RFID Demo tour where you can experience the technology in action! You can visit us and request a tour of our facility at 23400 Industrial Park Court, Farmington Hills, MI 48335.