The goal of ‘Mobile - Mobil im Leben’ is to develop a way for people with cognitive or physical disabilities to easily and effectively participate and navigate in public transportation. The result is a smartphone-based navigation system that can be custom tailored to each user’s individual needs and adapt to changing traffic conditions in real time. Thus, when a user with a disability needs to get somewhere using public transportation, the system calculates an individually customised route of travel that takes into consideration all of that user’s particular needs. It also provides real-time instructions to the user at critical moments during the trip, informing them, for example, when it’s necessary to change bus lines and which bus they need to look for. In short, it provides an otherwise largely excluded base of users with a new, unprecedented level of mobility in their daily lives – the chance to go ‘from one door to another’ safely and reliably.

Another distinguishing characteristic of this project is researchers’ dedicated focus on aesthetics. They set out to designed a system that is useful and highly customisable for passengers with a disability, while also aesthetically pleasing to a wider audience outside of the targeted user base. By striving to create as much social acceptance as possible, researchers aim to directly eliminate any stigma users might face in using such a system.

Further, the system also incorporates a simple and easy method for users to rate the effectiveness of vehicles, routes and services in their local public transportation system. This gives public transportation authorities unique and valuable access to a pool of user data for an otherwise overlooked group of people, thus providing an opportunity to address and improve transportation offers in a unique and goal-oriented way.

Funding Body

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

within the scope of the federal funding programme ‘ “Von Tür zu Tür” – Eine Mobilitätsinitiative für den Öffentlichen Personenverkehr der Zukunft’ (En: “From Door to Door” – An Initiative for More Mobility in Future Public Transportation)