James Grice, a second-year University of Kent (Britain) Business School BSc (Bachelor of Science) Management student, has launched a new iPhone app designed to help make rail travel more accessible for blind and visually impaired travelers by alerting them when their train is nearing a station stop, ensuring that they don’t miss it.
Grice’s “Stay on Route” app lets users pre-program the app with their destination station and set an alert, such as an alarm or a vibration, for when the station is a set distance away. Grice says that the app, though developed for improving accessibility, “Could also be used by all types of travelers worried they may miss their stop if reading, resting or otherwise distracted.”
Grice developed the app in 2018 and was a runner-up in the university’s Business Start-Up Journey, receiving a £500 investment (US$636) toward the app. Since then, he has worked with the Kent Business School ASPIRE (Accelerator Space for Innovation and Responsible Enterprise) team to help bring the app to market, launching it first for iOS. It’s the first iteration of the app, and Grice says he hopes to gather feedback from initial users to assist with general updates and new ideas to help make it as user-friendly as possible.
“Stay on Route has huge potential to make train travel easier and more relaxing for visually impaired travelers, as well as anyone else who may be worried about missing their stop,” Grice says. “It has been great to have the support of the KBS ASPIRE team at the University to bring the app to market. Hopefully, with feedback from users, it will continue to develop into a must-have travel app.”
