Surrey County Council has expanded the Aira Explorer app trial to support more blind and partially sighted Surrey residents to travel independently and sustainably across the county.
The app allows customers to place a video call with a trained visual interpreter on speakerphone, who looks through the person’s smartphone camera to guide them between the bus stop and nearby rail stations. The visual interpreters can also help read the timetable for them or explain the way into town.
The latest expansion will offer support to residents wanting to travel by bus to or from the following rail stations; Caterham, Dorking, Oxted, Leatherhead, Epsom Station and Clocktower, Reigate and Horley. This is in addition to the service already being offered at bus stations in Guildford, Staines, Redhill and Woking.
All app usage at these locations will be free of charge, provided by Surrey County Council using some of its allocation from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Fund.
Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member Highways, Transport and Economic Growth at Surrey County Council, said, “We’re keen to make bus travel accessible for everyone and hope this expansion will support people to travel confidently and independently. We’re very aware that using buses and navigating bus stations can sometimes be difficult for people with visual impairments. We’ve expanded this trial to cover more bus stops and rail interchanges to create better and joined up journeys for people who are visually impaired.
“This initiative is part of our wider investment in buses which also includes £6.3m to provide more ultra-low and zero emission community transport minibuses, £9m in bus priority measures to ensure Surrey buses turn up on time, and £1.4m in improving information for passengers at bus stops. Our Surrey LINK card gives young people half-price bus travel and we’ve also expanded our on-demand Surrey Connect bus services to cover areas where there are limited fixed bus routes, giving more options to travel by bus for all residents right across Surrey.”
Carl Martin, Accessibility Lead at Govia Thameslink Railway, said, “We’re really pleased to see the expansion of Aira to further bus stops, as it’s a vital step in making multimodal journeys more seamless for blind and visually impaired customers. Many of our stations interlink with local bus routes, and this development means passengers can travel with greater confidence between rail and bus services, knowing accessible, real-time support is available throughout their journey.”
Clare Burgess, CEO, Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey, said, “Making travel more accessible for people in Surrey with a vision impairment and for those who have combined sight and hearing loss is great news and I am delighted that Surrey County Council is expanding this trial to cover more locations free of charge. Traveling alone when you have a sensory impairment can be a daunting prospect, but having the Aira Explorer App at your fingertips makes independent travel so much easier and less stressful.”
Nikki Roberts, CEO, Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, said, “It’s fantastic news that the Aira app coverage has now been extended to twelve locations in Surrey. The Aira app will provide our visually impaired members the support they need to feel much more confident when travelling independently. We know a lot of work has gone into delivering this project, thanks to Surrey County Council for all of their hard work.”
For more information please visit Getting Started with Aira Explorer or to download the app visit Aira | Aira Explorer App
