learn about what role Banedanmark has in the audio announcements present inside of trains, stations, and on platforms. This information helped us understand the responsibilities of Banedanmark compared to DSB, and to construct recommendations that apply specifically to Banedanmark. 3.4.3. Movia Through our background research and interviews with and partially sighted commuters, we were able to form questions to ask Movia (see Appendix 3.13 for Movia interview questions). We mainly wanted to know more about the audio announcements inside of buses, so we could address the problems that blind travelers face when using the bus system. We hoped to learn more about the role Movia has in driver training, regulation and timing of audio announcements inside the buses. Also, we asked questions about how Movia distributes updated information to commuters at bus stops and on the bus. Finally, we sought more information for any future projects or technology usage that Movia is considering. These results helped our team cater our recommendations to ensure that Movia would have the potential to implement them. 3.4.4. Midttrafik and Arriva Our sponsors suggested that we contact Midttrafik, as they have implemented a light rail that accommodates for travelers with disabilities. However, our sponsors did not have a prior contact for Midttrafik, so our team sent an email to Midttrafik’s general email that they provide on their website. We corresponded with a contact from Midttrafik via email. In this correspondence, we learned that during the construction of the Aarhus Letbane system, Midttrafik focused on the details regarding accessibility, as this is what they believe mattered most for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, Midttrafik responded very late in our research process, so we were unable to organize an interview to gain more details, and Midttrafik has been excluded from our findings. We also planned to interview a representative of Arriva to gather information about bus operation and its costs, but we received no response to our initial contact. 3.5. Researching Technologies as a Potential Solution From our interviews with members of the blind and partially sighted community, we learned about mobile phone applications that blind and partially sighted commuters prefer. We reached out to Rejseplanen, the largest journey planning website and mobile phone application in Denmark, to learn
A3.16: Interview Questions for Exemplary Beacon Project: Tandem Association We know that the Tandem Association provides opportunities for people at risk of social exclusion, including people who are blind or partially sighted. Could you describe how the Tandem Association does that? What else does the Tandem Association do? You mentioned that the Tandem Association has 3 projects for urban accessibility using iBeacons that cover busses, street navigation and subway. Could you describe these projects? How did the Tandem Association start these projects? Whose idea was the project? Why did you chose beacons? Have beacons been successful? you describe the pilot testing process? Is the Smart Public Transport project ongoing? What are they using beacons for within the public transit system? What kind of relationship does the Tandem association’s relationship have with public transportation companies? In particular, what do those companies do to keep Smart Public Transport running, if anything? How many beacons do you have per mode of transit (i.e. bus, train car, metro)? How did the Tandem Association subsidize the cost? So overall, you would say that this project has been very successful? Would you like us to put you in contact with our sponsors at the Danish Association of the Blind? Have you run into any problems with people not wanting to use the app? Chapter 4 Appendices: Findings This appendix includes documents and results that are pertinent to the findings chapter. A4.1: Observation Results Table Nørreport Station Observation (4/18/18) Bus # and Location Time of Arrival Notes