South Bend Airport unveils app to increase accessibility for travelers

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The South Bend International Airport held a demonstration on Wednesday for the launch of a new app which aims to increase accessibility for travelers inside and outside the airport.

The app, known as GoodMaps, is an interactive digital map and accessible wayfinding service offering real-time guidance for all travelers in indoor facilities.

The new app provides accessibility features for people with disabilities, such as camera-based positioning to determine the user's location, audio and tactic feedback to help visually impaired users, and augmented reality arrows for deaf users.

Samantha Spencer, Operations Manager of South Bend International Airport, said, "Once our team learned about GoodMaps, we knew it was something we wanted to bring to SBN for our passengers. We're actually the first airport in the State of Indiana to implement GoodMaps. GoodMaps is all around the country, implemented at different types of facilities. There are cities, bus stations, train stations, zoos, there's all different types of facilities out there using GoodMaps. So, when we learned about it and we knew it would help improve our accessibility of our facilities for our passengers, we knew it was something we wanted to, wanted to bring to SBN."