PICK

According to Statistics NZ, 35% of people with disability are over 65 years old and may not have access to a smartphone. The challenge is not to develop any mobile app as a solution but to develop something that attaches to the current system to support the people with disability. How can we create a “Tag system“ to help people with a disability to get the right bus in public transportation to give them the equity with others?

"Pick" is a prototype product as a proof of concept to the solution journey experience to help people with disability to use public transportation safely. Allowing the communication between them and the “bus drivers” through NFC tag system to help them to get on the right target bus they want. The solution that evolved can be defined into three steps. 1. Customer to call-in customer service (there is such service in the current system) or PICK website. 2. Customer to tag 'Pick card' on the destiny bus stop. 3. Bus driver to received notification in their in-bus screen system.

Through this research, I gained a real insight into the problems that people with disability encounter with our public transport system. I wanted to develop a human-centric solution, therefore a strong emphasis was placed on primary research alongside engaging with key stakeholders including, The Blind Foundation, Blind citizen, Auckland transport, NZTA innovation team, Be accessible and 10 Bus drivers. I was surprised to find that although those solutions had been developed overseas, no one was looking at providing a New Zealand centric solution.

01. Plan: People with disability can utilise the existing transportation support contact centre to assist in planning their journey. Another option is planning online through the Pick responsive website. The journey will be loaded to their NFC card and will be activated when tagging on. 02. Notify: Activate the journey by tagging onto the Pick tag system, located at the head of the bus stop. The yellow sign allows the visually impaired to find the tag system and provide a point of reference for the bus driver to stop. The tag system uses colour and sound during tag on and off to help with disability needs. A tag error will appear to highlight any discrepancies between the planned journey and the bus stop being used. 03. Ride Once the passenger tags onto the system it will then broadcast a notification to all planned buses following the target route toward the passenger. Disability details will be presented to bus drivers. The nearest bus driver will acknowledge the notification upon picking up the passenger. The system provides communication if the passenger has been waiting for more than 20 mins without any acknowledgement from the bus drivers.