U of MNUniversity of Minnesota
Center for Transportation Studies

Programs & Labs

Accessible Traffic Signals for Blind and Visually Impaired Pedestrians

Principal Investigator:

  • Chen-Fu Liao, CTS Research Scholar/Sr. Systems Engineer, Minnesota Traffic Observatory (MTO)/Civil Engineering

Co-Investigator:

Project Summary

Blind and visually impaired pedestrians often travel in areas that are unfamiliar to them and cross at signalized intersections. Locating the sidewalk and the pushbutton of a desired crossing direction are among the most difficult tasks for blind pedestrians to cross a street. The chirping sound and audible messages from traditional Accessible Pedestrian Signal (APS) systems are often confused with other noises in the vicinity of an intersection. In order to provide effective traffic signal information to blind and visually impaired pedestrians, we propose to investigate and develop an accessible traffic signal system by using the Global Positioning System (GPS), Text to Speech (TTS) and cell phone technologies. We aim to take advantage of several components from previous research studies and investigate the feasibility of integrating these technologies in order to develop a reliable and effective methodology for determining the location of a blind cell phone user on the street with respect to an intersection. Intersection information and signal states (for example, the ‘walk’ or ‘don’t walk’ message) can then be broadcast to blind cell phone users wirelessly from the signal controller. The traffic information can then be translated into audible messages using commercially available TTS technology. Our approach will provide options to allow blind and visually impaired pedestrians to subscribe to and receive personal assistive traffic signal information while approaching an intersection.

Sponsors:

  • ITS Institute (RITA)