Attitudes of Visually Impaired Persons toward the Use of Public Transportation

This article reports on a survey of the use of buses in Santa Barbara, California, by 55 persons who are visually impaired (including those who are blind and those who have low vision). Findings on users’ frustrations, potential use of technological aids for travel, and perceptions of and attitudes toward the characteristics of bus services are presented. In addition, differences in the responses of those to whom household cars were and were not available are analyzed, and suggestions for dealing with the participants’ major concerns are provided.

[1]  Kathryn Jane Svendsen THE USE OF LIGHT RAIL OR LIGHT RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEMS BY INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS , 1994 .

[2]  Billie Louise Bentzen,et al.  Visually Handicapped Travelers in the Rapid Rail Transit Environment , 1983 .

[3]  S. Sacks,et al.  Lifestyles of Employed Legally Blind People: A Study of Expenditures and Time Use , 1992 .

[4]  James R. Marston,et al.  Investigating travel behavior of nondriving blind and vision impaired people: The role of public transit , 1997 .

[5]  A.F. Tatham Second International Symposium On Maps and Graphics for Visually Handicapped People , 1988 .

[6]  K M Hunter-Zaworski,et al.  IMPROVING BUS ACCESSIBILITY SYSTEMS FOR PERSONS WITH SENSORY AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS. FINAL REPORT , 1993 .

[7]  Roberta L. Klatzky,et al.  Personal guidance system for the visually impaired , 1994, ASSETS.

[8]  John A. Brabyn,et al.  New Developments in Mobility and Orientation Aids for the Blind , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[9]  Billie Louise Bentzen,et al.  TALKING SIGNS REMOTE INFRARED SIGNAGE: A GUIDE FOR TRANSIT MANAGERS , 1995 .

[10]  John A. Brabyn,et al.  A Review of Mobility Aids and Means of Assessment , 1985 .

[11]  A. Corn,et al.  The Impact of Nondriving on Adults with Visual Impairments , 1994 .

[12]  A F Peck,et al.  SOLUTIONS FOR PROBLEMS OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED USERS OF RAIL RAPID TRANSIT. VOLUME I: IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED IN RAIL RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEMS , 1981 .

[13]  David H. Warren,et al.  Electronic spatial sensing for the blind : contributions from perception, rehabilitation, and computer vision , 1985 .

[14]  B. L. Bentzen,et al.  Audible Signage as a Wayfinding Aid: Verbal Landmark versus Talking Signs , 1995 .

[15]  R. Golledge Tactual Strip Maps as Navigational Aids , 1991 .