Technology advancements, however, are helping to lower the barriers. New color-coded placards placed on New York City’s No. 6 Subway line are part of the NaviLens technology. When scanned with a smartphone, they relay key bits of information like train numbers, real-time travel updates, elevator status, or step-by-step navigational information in numerous languages, Yuvraj Ramsaywack, accessibility program strategist with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), said.
Riders do not have to see the codes in order for their phones to pick them up. Blind users simply need to hold their phone at chest level, and the app will find the code.
“It’s very sensitive. You could just turn, and that would be the first code it would detect,” Ramsaywack said during a panel discussion Tuesday with other New York City transportation officials. The event was organized by the Transit Tech Lab.
“These codes are far more responsive than QR codes and can be read in all types of lighting conditions, which allow us to provide dynamic information to our customers in a variety of settings,” he said. NaviLens has deployed its technology on other transit systems in cities like San Antonio, Texas.
Technology deployed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is aimed at assisting people who are deaf and hard of hearing at LaGuardia Airport.
“It connects users to live interpreters by scanning a QR code from a personal device,” Ocean Stokes, senior compliance manager at Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said during the panel. The technology is provided by Convo Access.
Stokes recalled how a recent passenger at LaGuardia used the Convo Access technology to interact with a live sign language interpreter who guided the guest through the airport. The flyer — who happened to be an influencer — made a video promoting the experience.
“She felt empowered. And she said how wonderful it felt to be able to talk to someone else through an interpreter, on her phone,” Stokes said.
A pilot project now underway in the pre-security area of Newark Liberty International Airport, known as GoodMaps, is an indoor wayfinding mapping tool aimed at all travelers, including people with disabilities.
“This is similar to Google Maps, but indoors,” said La'Tisha Smith, project coordinator in the aviation department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, during the panel.
All of these projects grew out of the Transit Tech Lab initiative, a public-private initiative developed by the MTA and the Partnership for New York City to advance technology to solve the challenges faced by transit organizations in the New York City metro region.
“When we talk about technology in transit, we’re not just talking about infrastructure. We’re talking about information, independence,” Stacey Matlen, senior vice president for innovation at the Partnership for New York City, said during the panel. “And technology plays a vital role in delivering that.”
Back on the No. 6 Subway line, transit officials are learning how to make the color codes resilient, taking on vandals who have tried to deface them in various ways. Officials have also responded by often placing the codes out of reach, Ramsaywack said.
“When we’re reviewing any of these pilots, we’re testing the resiliency, to make sure it can withstand the elements, and withstand being in a subway environment,” he said.
