Continental, IIT Delhi & RLF Expand 'OnBoard' Solution for Visually Impaired on Bengaluru Buses
#Continental #OnBoard #Buses #IITDelhi #BMTC“BMTC recognizes that OnBoard is a crucial step towards making the city’s public transport system more accessible and inclusive, bringing it on par with other leading global cities.”- Ramachandran R, Managing Director, BMTC
July 2025 : Continental, in partnership with the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), recently announced the expansion of OnBoard, an innovative technology solution designed to enhance public transport accessibility for the visually impaired. This initiative, originally launched in 2023 under Continental’s CSR wing, Conscience, in collaboration with IIT Delhi and Raised Lines Foundation (RLF), reaffirms the commitment to inclusive mobility.
Following a successful pilot on 25 BMTC buses, the OnBoard solution is now being expanded to 100 more buses, with a target of 500 buses across the city. The announcement was made in the presence of the Hon’ble Karnataka Transport Minister, Shri Ramalinga Reddy, at the BMTC Central Office.
OnBoard, developed at IIT Delhi with support from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt of India, and technology transferred to Raised Lines Foundation, enables visually impaired individuals to identify bus route numbers and locate entry doors using audio cues from a bus-mounted speaker. This significantly smoother and more accessible boarding process.
Prashanth Doreswamy, President and CEO, Continental, emphasized, “At Continental, we believe that mobility must be inclusive and accessible. We are proud to work with BMTC in supporting the vision of a more connected and accessible Bengaluru.”
With approval for 500 units, installations are complete on 401K and 401R routes, and the next batch of 400 devices is planned for mid-July, with full implementation targeted by August this year.
Ramachandran R, Managing Director, BMTC, stated, “This project is a flagship initiative for inclusive urban mobility in Bengaluru. BMTC recognizes that OnBoard is a crucial step towards making the city’s public transport system more accessible and inclusive, bringing it on par with other leading global cities.”
Rigorous field testing with visually impaired students, conducted by Raised Lines Foundation in collaboration with Enable India, Bengaluru, has demonstrated OnBoard's effectiveness and robust performance even under challenging weather conditions.
Prof. M. Balakrishnan, Honorary Professor, IIT Delhi and Chairman, Raised Lines Foundation, highlighted the collaborative success: “Its deployment across the BMTC network will allow visually impaired individuals to navigate public transport bringing the benefits of inclusive design to the heart of urban mobility.”
The launch event concluded with a live demonstration and a call for strengthened public–private partnerships to further nurture accessibility and inclusivity across India’s transportation networks.
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