Innovation: Goov smartphone public transportation app

Netherlands

AAI Domains:

• Capacity and enabling environment (use of ICT)

• Independent, healthy and secure living (independent living, physical safety)

• Participation in society (social connectedness)

Many groups of people experience restrictions on their ability to travel using public transport and this can limit their lives by requiring them to use special forms of transport, for example special schools for pupils with disabilities, or relying on taxis which can be expensive. People with language difficulties or who are living with dementia may find the prospect of using public transport to be daunting if they cannot communicate their needs or become confused about where they are or where they are going to.

These difficulties in using the public transport system can lead to people leading a more socially isolated life because of the challenges they face in safely accessing public transport or meeting the costs of taxis. This is an area where social innovation can enable people of different ages with a range of difficulties to build and maintain social connections.

Goov is a smart phone app developed by a social enterprise of the same name in partnership with Eliakam IT, Foundation Siza (a care facility for people with learning disabilities) and RVC Netherlands who provide the helpline service. Goov provides users with a supported guide to using public transport that goes beyond having a route or journey planner. It is aimed at people who use special public transport (pupils with learning disabilities who attend special schools) and those who use taxis because using public transport would be too challenging for them. This group would include people with low literacy skills in Dutch, people with disabilities or older people living with dementia.

Goov enables users to plan a journey, log it with the Goov portal and be guided through the whole process from door to door. Goov provides dynamic assistance to users to keep them informed of their progress, if there are delays or diversions and allows their progress to be monitored by a carer or guardian. Journeys can be tracked visually using another smart phone app (Mee-view) or virtually on the web through the Goov portal so that carers have peace of mind. Goov provides users with text or pictograph guidance throughout their journey and if they deviate from the planned route then the user is alerted by a discreet alarm, Buzz Buddy, and the telephone helpline service can be instructed to contact them to check if they are alright.

Goov has been developed as an Android app using open source data on public transport and Google Maps and Street View to actively guide people on their journey. It was piloted in 2014–15 with 135 people and 85% of users signed up to the system compared to relying on taxis and special transport arrangements, and although it is still in a developing pilot stage it has won several awards including the Dutch National Health Innovation Prize for 2016, a Vodafone Mobiles for Good prize and an Apps for Europe award.

Although there are other apps that provide journey planning facilities and enable users to ask for assistance (BlueAssist, Radar and OV4U), Goov offers a greater level of guidance and support. This extra support comes at a price with the starter package costing around €600 for three months that includes the Goov app, access to the Goov portal, support from the helpline, two training sessions and a public transport season ticket, and it is currently marketed at municipalities and social welfare institutions that purchase it on behalf of a client.

This will change in the future as it aimed directly at service users with the greater volume of users lowering the costs of the system. It is planned to scale up in the Netherlands before expanding into Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom where there are potential users for such a system.

In terms of active ageing, Goov enables independent living and physical safety for people who would find using public transport to be a challenging experience. It does so through the novel use of ICT to support people and to reassure carers and guardians that the person undertaking the journey is safely in transit and has reached their destination. This app should enable people to build and maintain strong social connections through using public transport which should be significantly cheaper than using special transport or taxis.

Websites

Goov

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