By Doris Belusic

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.”
~ Earl Nightingale

On Friday, July 17, 2015, Victoria members of the Canadian Federation of the Blind (CFB), a grass-roots advocacy organization of blind people, along with B.C. Transit personnel, rode around town on a bus equipped with the latest GPS Trekker Breeze. It is being trialled by B.C. Transit as an automated annunciation system. It will call out streets travelled, all cross streets and be modified to call out points of interest, such as Craigdarroch Castle or Mayfair and Hillside Malls. In August, B.C. Transit plans to install it on 25 Victoria buses. If the trial period is successful, it will be rolled out onto the rest of Victoria’s fleet in September; then later in B.C.’s smaller communities.

After more than 15 persistent years of advocacy by CFB members, including a recent human rights tribunal, to get an automated annunciation system onto buses, this is a major accomplishment. Blind transit riders, tourists, seniors and others will now be able to know where the bus is along a route and when to exit independently. No more relying on drivers’ memories and missing stops.

B.C. Transit sought bids until May 5 from companies for automated annunciation systems. According to David Guthrie, of B.C. Transit, the bids were either too expensive or not in trial-ready working order. B.C. Transit decided to re-try CFB’s original suggestion of several years ago. They teamed up with Humanware, a Canadian company which makes Trekker Breeze, originally a blindness-specific GPS system. Today, the updated Trekker Breeze is much advanced and there are now 12 tracking satellites, so the system appears to work very well, even between taller buildings. Guthrie says this lower cost, simpler, more informative system is the first of its kind on buses anywhere.

“It could be revolutionary,” says Oriano Belusic, CFB’s first vice president. “This system is B.C. Transit’s answer to provide blind people with necessary information so they can use public transit independently until such time they install the much more complex and costly smart bus AVL technology.”

The Trekker Breeze will be hardwired to the PA system, which includes at least six speakers from front to back inside each bus. Guthrie says the Trekker Breeze will be encased in plastic and will automatically turn on when the bus is started. The driver needs little or no training and only has to adjust volume. Call-outs should easily be able to be heard (they must be heard) over ambient noise of air conditioners and people’s voices.

“There will undoubtedly be wrinkles to iron out,” says Mary Ellen Gabias, CFB president. “One thing is completely clear to everyone: Blind people have a right to information. We are no longer relegated to the fringes of transit planning.”

“Members of the Canadian Federation of the Blind are very pleased that B.C. Transit is taking concrete steps to equip our buses with automated GPS stop annunciation devices,” says Belusic. “Five of us had an opportunity to test drive a demonstration bus that worked very well and with some fine tuning the new system will definitely make public transit more accessible for blind riders and many others.”

CFB will certainly keep a check on progress, but if the system works well in day-to-day general transit use, as it appears it should, CFB would like to commend B.C. Transit for stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing. Soon blind and visually impaired people will also be able to travel with dignity and confidence.