Case study · Rome · Bus
ATAC — the Roman fermata speaks your language.
ATAC, Roma Capitale and IGPDecaux integrate NaviLens into the new smart shelters «Eterna» and into the historical shelters of the city centre. A spoken information layer for blind and low-vision riders, in the run-up to the Jubilee 2025.
6 Dec 2024
«Eterna» shelter launch · Porta Pia
450
Eterna shelters planned in the Smart Stops Plan
Jubilee 2025
Citywide rollout framework
42
Languages with NaviLens voice readout
The client
ATAC S.p.A.
Roma Capitale · IGPDecaux
ATAC is the public urban transit operator of Rome: bus, tram, metro and regional trains in a city of 2.8 million inhabitants and around 50 million tourists per year. Its stop network is one of the densest touchpoints between the city and its visitors.
In December 2024, ATAC, Roma Capitale and IGPDecaux (Italian arm of JCDecaux) inaugurated on Via Nomentana, next to Porta Pia, the first smart shelter «Eterna». It is the flagship model of the Smart Stops Plan that will take the city to the Jubilee 2025: a target of 450 new shelters, all carrying an integrated «Bus info» NaviLens code.
§ The solution
«Bus info» codes on every shelter.
Every new Eterna shelter carries two NaviLens codes: one on the roof header, detectable from far away to locate the stop, and another at glass height, next to the ATAC «Bus info — NaviLens Accessible Code» sign.
When pointed at with the app, a voice in the rider's language announces the stop name, the lines that serve it, their direction and the tempi di attesa in real time. The same layer is added to the traditional shelters of the historic centre —Tritone/Trevi Fountain, S. Claudio, S. Maria Maggiore— without touching their design.
§ Walkthrough
From Porta Pia to the Trevi Fountain, a voice layer over Rome.
6 Dec 2024 · Porta Pia
The first «Eterna» enters service
Inaugurated by mobility councillor Eugenio Patanè, ATAC general director Alberto Zorzan and IGPDecaux managing director Andrea Rustioni. It is the shelter model designed by JCDecaux specifically for Rome.
S. Maria Maggiore · Centre
Towards 450 Eterna shelters
The Smart Stops Plan envisages 450 Eterna shelters across the city — hundreds already installed, the rest under construction within the Jubilee project. All carry a NaviLens code.
Tritone · Trevi Fountain
Double code: roof and panel
At the Tritone/Trevi Fountain stop, the code on the shelter header coexists with the «Bus info» sign on the side column, next to the ROMA atac digital totem. Redundant reinforcement for busy tourist environments.
S. Claudio · U lines
Code on existing shelters
Traditional shelters also get the «Bus info» code above the blue line panel (63, 71, 80, 83, 85): the app reads which bus passes, in which direction and at what frequency.
S. Claudio · Night lines
Night buses too
Next to night lines n90 and n543, the code sits on the shelter glass at rider height. The voice announces the next services when the printed information is hard to read.
Bus info sign · ATAC × NaviLens
Unified graphic identity
The «Bus info — NaviLens Accessible Code» sign, with QR codes to download NaviLens GO and NaviLens App, marks every stop with the same visual language, recognisable at a glance citywide.
§ What they said
“Il valore di NaviLens sta nella libertà quotidiana: arrivare in fermata, capire dove si è, sapere cosa passa e quando, senza dover chiedere.”
“Una volta inquadrato il codice con l'app, l'assistente vocale comunica all'utente quali linee passano in quella fermata, verso quale direzione stanno viaggiando e quali sono i tempi di attesa aggiornati.”
“È stata inaugurata questa mattina, alla presenza del Direttore Generale di ATAC Alberto Zorzan, dell'Assessore alla Mobilità di Roma Capitale Eugenio Patanè e del Managing Director di IGPDecaux Andrea Rustioni, la prima pensilina smart «Eterna».”
§ Press notes
- ATAC — Inaugurata la prima pensilina smart «Eterna» (6 dic 2024)
- Roma Capitale — Attivata la prima pensilina smart Atac (6 dic 2024)
- IGPDecaux — Inaugurazione pensilina «Eterna» Roma (8 dic 2024)
- JCDecaux / IGPDecaux — Contratto delle pensiline di Roma (6 dic 2024)
- Il Quotidiano del Lazio — Pensiline Eterna con NaviLens (gen 2026)
- Canale Dieci — Nuove pensiline Atac con tecnologia NaviLens (gen 2026)
§ And your network?
Your next station can also speak.
Tell us about your network, your pain points and the KPIs you want to move. We’ll show you how NaviLens would fit —with comparable cases.
