For the visually impaired navigating the seeing world, almost is not good enough

Widespread Errors in Bus Stop Location Mapping is an Accessibility Barrier for Passengers Who are Blind or Have Low Vision

Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 1‐3
© American Foundation for the Blind 2023
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0145482X231201807 journals.sagepub.com/home/jvb

Since 2005, transit agencies in the United States have started to open their transit data fol- lowing General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) standard, so that both spatial and tem- poral transit data can be accessible from mapping programs such as Google Maps. By combining detailed street and pedestrian mapping data, it is now possible to plan routes, at given departure times, from point to point, rather than just between transit stops. This open data initiative greatly helps to improve the accessibility of public transportation for individuals who are visually impaired.

The spatial element of transit data mainly comprises the locations of bus stops. The accuracy of the open transit data, upon which routes are planned, is especially critical for people who are visually impaired. If there is a considerable gap between the actual location of the bus stop and the location to which an individual with visual impairment is guided by Google Maps or other navigation applications or apps that use the open data, there is a good chance that they may miss the bus. This issue has been reported by visually impaired bus riders who rely on smartphones for navigation.