PONS - Mobility Assistance on Footpaths for Public Transportation

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Transportation Engineering
• Accessibility Studies

Background:

• Current public transportation guidance systems lack continuity, particularly at transfer points.
• People with limited mobility, disabilities, elderly individuals, and unfamiliar travelers struggle with fragmented journey support.
• Existing solutions fail to adequately address information, orientation, and service provision gaps on pedestrian footpath sections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a seamless mobility support system for public transport users, especially those with limited mobility.
• To bridge the gaps in the mobility chain by providing continuous assistance throughout the entire journey.
• To create a toolkit for developers to integrate sustainable, state-of-the-art approaches into pedestrian navigation and public transport applications.

Main Methods:

• Identifying and analyzing shortcomings in current public transport guidance systems, focusing on footpath sections.
• Developing new technological concepts and paradigms to address identified problems (lack of information, orientation, services).
• Integrating these solutions into a comprehensive toolkit for application developers.

Main Results:

• The project has identified critical deficiencies in existing public transport navigation aids, specifically concerning pedestrian segments.
• New paradigms and technology concepts have been conceptualized to tackle these deficiencies.
• A toolkit is being developed to empower developers to enhance their applications.

Conclusions:

• Addressing the specific challenges of footpath navigation is crucial for improving overall public transport accessibility.
• A holistic, continuous guidance approach is needed to support all users, particularly those with limited mobility.
• The developed toolkit aims to facilitate the integration of advanced solutions for more inclusive and user-friendly public transport systems.