Forty talking bus stops have now been installed for blind and partially sighted passengers across Brighton and Hove. Twenty recently installed talking bus stops have been provided to go with the 20 that Brighton & Hove City Council introduced in 2007.
 
Brighton & Hove’s initiative has provided a dozen new units at Churchill Square (stops B, G and H); St James’s Street; Queens Road near the Clock Tower; Sea Life Centre; Lewes Road near to the bottom of Elm Grove; North Street, Old Steine (stop U); the Royal Sussex County Hospital (opposite the Eye Hospital going east); Eastern Road/Gala Bingo Hall and Elm Grove/Brighton General.
 
The 12 units were paid for by the European CIVITAS scheme, following a successful bid by the council.
 
These are at North Street (stop X and Y); Natal Road (south and northbound); Coombe Road (southbound); Westbourne Villas (westbound); New Church Road, near to the junction with Westbourne Villas going towards Portslade, Mile Oak and Downs Park; Church Road/Tesco (westbound).
 
Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, cabinet member for environment, said:
“The scheme – believed to be the first of its kind in the country – has made a big difference to users, giving them a greater confidence and independence to travel by bus.”
 
People using the scheme have a battery-operated key fob which alerts them when they are near one of the talking bus stops.
 
By pressing the fob, the bus stop ‘talks’ to them, giving them details of which bus services are due, and where they are going to. The bus stops have won several national awards for innovation and promotion of accessibility.
 
For more information on Talking Bus Stops visit:
www.journeyon.co.uk