A student from Nottingham has won a competition to design a way to make using buses easier for people with vision and hearing problems.

Daria Buszta, 17, came up with a low-cost Bluetooth-enabled wristband. The idea is that it can connect with the bus’s ticket machine, and vibrate as it approaches the passenger’s stop, ensuring they can get off at the right time.

This is a major issue, as two-thirds of hearing and/or vision-impaired people say they have got off at the wrong stop in the past six months.

Transport minister Baroness Kramer, who was the competition’s chief judge, said: “Daria came up with a very simple answer to a complicated problem. Her design was discrete, cost effective and has huge potential. This isn’t just an idea that will stay on paper. It will get serious backing and will hopefully start changing people’s lives in the not too distant future.”
Ms Buszta won £1,000 for her design, and will have a chance to develop it with local businesses, backed by £100,000 in government funding.