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    Case study · San Antonio · Texas, USA

    Nearly 6,000 VIA stops, scannable from 50 feet away.

    VIA Metropolitan Transit scales the NaviLens system to the entire network after a pilot at 100 high-demand stops and together with Vibrant Works (formerly Lighthouse for the Blind). The board approves it in January 2023 and the mass installation starts in February 2024.

    Pole at VIA San Antonio's stop 32316 with a large NaviLens code next to the red bus stop number sign

    ≈ 6,000

    NaviLens codes at VIA stops

    100

    Pilot stops (high demand + Vibrant Works)

    Jan 2023

    Board vote to scale to the whole network

    50 ft

    Detection distance without focusing

    The client

    VIA Metropolitan Transit San Antonio, Texas

    VIA Metropolitan Transit is the public transport authority of San Antonio (the seventh most populous city in the US) and runs more than 7,000 urban bus stops as well as the VIVA, Primo and VIAtrans services.

    In 2021 a pilot starts with Vibrant Works —formerly Lighthouse for the Blind— at 100 high-demand stops and around its headquarters. The project is tested with blind and low-vision people, validated with feedback sessions and, in January 2023, the VIA board approves scaling it. In February 2024 the installation of nearly 6,000 NaviLens codes begins at stops across the network.

    Pole bracket at stop 47846 with the red Bus Stop Number sign and a NaviLens code

    § The solution

    A standard bracket attached to every VIA pole.

    The VIA team builds a metal bracket that bolts to the side of every stop pole, right next to the Bus Stop Number sign. That bracket carries the NaviLens code for that specific stop_id and the caption Scan from 30/50 ft with NaviLens GO App.

    The app detects the code from over 15 metres away, without focusing, and reads aloud the stop number, the routes (8, 34, 42…) and the next arrivals in real time, in up to 42 languages. It replaces texting the stop number to 52020 with a spoken, multilingual channel.

    § Walkthrough

    From the Vibrant Works pilot to the 6,000 stops of the network.

    • Two users with face masks scan a NaviLens code with their phones during a pilot session

      2021 · Vibrant Works pilot

      Tests with real users

      The pilot runs at 100 high-demand stops and around the former Lighthouse for the Blind, today Vibrant Works, with in-person testing and feedback sessions.

    • A user with a face shield scans a NaviLens code with their phone

      Street tests · COVID-19

      Detection from several metres, without focusing

      The sessions confirm that the code is detected from a distance, outdoors and under adverse lighting, which makes the difference compared to a standard QR stuck on the bus-stop sign.

    • Training room with several users and a VIA trainer

      Onboarding

      Indoor training sessions

      VIA pairs the rollout with training sessions: NaviLens / NaviLens GO app install, first guided scans and Q&A with the Vibrant Works team.

    • Older user with headphones listening to the NaviLens app response

      Voice readout

      Spoken information in 42 languages

      The app turns visual signage into spoken messages in up to 42 languages, which also makes it useful for people who do not read English fluently.

    • Close-up of stop 82603 with the red sign and the NaviLens code

      Stop 82603 · Route 34

      Code next to the official sign

      At each stop the code sits next to VIA's red sign with the Bus Stop Number and routes, keeping the information hierarchy that riders already know.

    • Two men point their phones at the NaviLens code on a pole

      Real use · Pole corner

      Scan from the sidewalk

      The user does not need to touch the pole: they sweep the phone at chest height and the app tells them by sound how far and in what direction the code is.

    • A group of people, several with white canes, scan a NaviLens code

      Pilot session · 100 stops

      Validation with the blind community

      Massive tests with white-cane users are the foundation on which VIA's board, in January 2023, votes to scale the system to the entire network.

    • Five VIA workers in yellow vests next to the pole at stop 77146

      Operations · 6,000 installs

      VIA street crews

      From February 2024, VIA crews install the brackets one by one at nearly 6,000 stops: the code is bolted to the existing pole without altering street furniture.

    § What they said

    • “Over the next several months, VIA will install nearly 6,000 multi-colored QR-style coded NaviLens signs at bus stops and other locations.”
    • “VIA Metropolitan Transit is installing an innovative system that will assist people who are blind or low-vision in more easily navigating the public transportation system in the San Antonio region.”
    • “VIA Metropolitan, the transit operator in San Antonio, Texas, has partnered with Spain-based startup NaviLens to pilot a wayfinding smartphone application for blind or low-vision transit riders.”

    § Press notes

    § 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.

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