Making public transport more accessible for passengers is a significant aid in boosting the mode’s image, according to Vix Technology as it demonstrated its audio and visual bus displays at Euro Bus Expo last month.
The supplier, which announced recently it had won the contract to deploy next-stop announcements on board the vehicle of Northern Ireland’s operator, Translink, used its stand at the NEC to showcase TFT and LED displays and hearing loops, as well as its text-to-speech button for the visually impaired.
Matthew Wilks, Business Development Director – UK and Ireland, says meeting requirements such as the government’s new PSV Accessible Informational Regulations (PSVAIR) is not mainly about gaining passenger numbers.
“It’s all that image piece,” he says. “All right, it might only get you a handful more customers but, at the same time, the operators and local authorities have to provide for everybody. So, if it is two, three or four, that is really irrelevant — it’s the point that they are providing for everybody and not leaving anyone out. It’s arguably emphasised by the franchising piece because there will be a lot more focus on that end user.”
Although the cost of meeting AIR has been raised as an issue, Mr Wilks points out the government’s £4.65 million funding which was available to smaller operators. He says: “There is a mechanism there to make sure even the smaller operators can meet the regulations. We don’t have to have the whole vehicles fitted out. They can have the single-line LED displays, which are very cost-effective, so that is facilitating the requirements and making sure it is cost-effective for them as well.”
