BMA to install voice-guide systems for blind at 54 more zebra crossings
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will install voice-guide equipment at 54 more zebra crossings on major roads in the capital in the next fiscal year to make it more convenient for people with eyesight disability to cross roads, a senior BMA official said.
Waithaya Nawasetthakul, director of the Traffic Engineering Division of the BMA’s Traffic and Transport Department, said the department was pursuing a plan to install voice guides at all 522 zebra crossings in line with the policy of the BMA governor.
In fiscal year 2020, the department will install voice-guide systems at 54 zebra crossings. The system will provide buttons on each side of the road. When pedestrians press the button, the voice-guide system will tell them how long they must wait to cross the road and when they can cross.
BMA Governor Aswin Kwanmuang issued orders to install voice-guide systems at all 522 zebra crossings after he invited a blind woman, Khirin Techawongtham, for discussions. The woman is guided by her dog.
She told the governor that one of the obstacles people with eyesight disability face in accessing public areas is the lack of a voice-guide system at zebra crossings
Waithaya said inner Bangkok and areas near schools, communities with heavy traffic, and tourist destinations will get priority for installing the voice-guide systems.