Project Description

Compared to other groups with mobility impairments, the not inconsiderable number of visually and hearing impaired people are not as present in the media and, above all, in people's awareness and are often not even perceived as separate groups with specific needs, but are erroneously counted among the blind and deaf. This is despite the fact that the latter must completely replace the sense of sight or hearing with other perceptions, whereas the visually and hearing impaired do see and hear, albeit in a limited way. Nevertheless, they also use these senses in everyday life and thus also in traffic, but require certain support adapted to them.

Because of this, many measures that are taken in the area of public transport for blind and deaf people as a useful support, come to nothing for visually and hearing impaired people. It should be kept in mind that measures for the visually and hearing impaired benefit all public transport users, as they increase user-friendliness and comfort, as well as safety, and make it easier to travel by public transport. Such measures therefore also increase the attractiveness of public transport across the board. In this context, the implementation of many measures would be associated with low to no costs, but for those affected there would be a high benefit.

The present project deals intensively with the mobility needs and barriers of the two addressed groups. Another novelty is that the mobility problems of visually and hearing impaired people are addressed specifically and separately from other groups with impairments. After the "state of the art" has been presented, a quantitative and a qualitative survey will be conducted to determine the actual situation of the people concerned.
The focus is on desired and actual mobility behavior, the identification of factors that promote and inhibit mobility, and the development of desired solutions, approaches and ideas. Similarly, the views, offers and solutions on the part of technology and mobility providers will be analyzed. The results will be compared and combined in a gap analysis. On the basis of evaluation methods specially adapted to the problem, solution approaches are evaluated by all those involved (stakeholders, technology and mobility providers) and a rating or ranking of measures to be taken is created.

The results obtained lead to recommendations for action, guidelines and the proposal of a relevant standard.

Project Partner

• Vienna University of Economics and Business - Institute for Transport and Logistics Management (Project Coordinator)
• University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna - Department of Landscape, Spatial and Infrastructure Sciences
• Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs
• Auge & Ohr - Vereinigung sehbehinderter und hörbehinderter Menschen
• ÖHTB - Österreichisches Hilfswerk für Taubblinde und hochgradig Hör- und Sehbehinderte
• Verein Blickkontakt
• Linz Linien GmbH
• Graz AG - Stadtwerke für kommunale Dienste
• ÖBB Personenverkehrs AG
• TSB Transdanubia Nikolai