Can you empower people who need help to hail and board a bus?
About the Challenge
The Bus Boarding Assistant Innovation Challenge was launched in May 2023. Transport for NSW (TfNSW) challenged innovators to come up with digital solutions to help people who need boarding assistance to easily hail a bus from a mobile device. Our high priority customers are those with vision impairment, wheelchair users, the elderly, and those with reduced mobility.
Two solutions from Hailo and SAGE Automation were chosen to progress through the incubation phase and into real world trials.
NOTHING about us, without us. Hailo is a mobile application designed to help people with disabilities use public transportation. The app was designed by electrical engineer Santiago Velasquez and his team at Hailo. As a blind person, a Guide Dog user and the founder of Hailo, Hailo is breaking down barriers and making transport accessible for all.
Using the Hailo app, commuters can:
- Alert public transport drivers that they’re waiting to be picked up
- Communicate their accessibility requirements
- Let drivers know where they want to be dropped off
- Receive live status updates during their trip
The information goes to the driver via an alert so the user doesn't have to stress or advocate for themselves.
The See Me app was developed by Cassie Hames, a programmer at SAGE Automation, based on her own experiences trying to catch the bus the bus as a legally blind person. It is designed to make bus transport more accessible for a wide range of passengers. The app helps people more easily hail a bus using their mobile phone or tablet. Instead of physically hailing the bus, the See Me app links to the bus onboard system to allows a passenger to notify the bus driver digitally that they are waiting for the bus. It then delivers spoken, visual, and haptic notifications to their phone when the bus is approaching the pick-up and destination locations.
Participate in Technology Trials
The next phase of the Bus Boarding Assistant Innovation Challenge is the real-world trial of these two apps to obtain customer and driver feedback, and evaluate the potential of the overall concept. The trials have commenced and are expected to run until mid-2024. Interested members of the public are invited to participate.
The Hailo app is being trialled in the following regions:
- Northern Beaches (BLine only, supported by Keolis Downer Northern Beaches)
- Tweed Heads (supported by Kinetic)
- Queanbeyan (supported by CDC Canberra)
To participate in the Hailo trials, please sign up via https://www.hailo.co/ongoing-pilots.
The See Me app is being trialed in Port Macquarie. Busways bus operator, is partnering with SAGE Automation for this trial.
The See Me app is available to download for iOS and Android devices by searching for See Me: Bus Signalling. Alternatively scan the QR code. For more information contact seemetrial@sageautomation.com.
Further Details
The Challenge Statement for this challenge was "Create a digital solution that empowers people who need help to hail and board a bus"
To support Challenge incubatees, TfNSW provided access to a messaging API which enables app users to send requests to the bus driver's console on TCB-enabled buses.
Innovation Challenge Timeline
Key Dates
Registrations for the Virtual Information Session open Wed 19 April 2023
The Virtual Information Session will be held on Wed 10 May 2023 at 1:00PM
Submissions Open on Wed 10 May 2023 at 2:30PM
Submissions Close on Wed 24 May 2023 at 11:59PM
Pitch Day will be held on Wed 7 June 2023
Incubation starts July 2023
Trials Begin February 2024
Information Session Recording