Israeli City Piloting Tech-Guided Public Transportation
Ramat Gan is a city in Israel’s Tel Aviv District known for its green spaces, economic hub, and being home to Bar Ilan University, the revered Sheba Medical Center, and its own stadium and Israeli art museum, But it now has a new string to its bow. It is trialing an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-led transport system for people with disabilities, as YNet reports.
This innovative travel aid, which launched in February 2026 on bus line 67, may just tempt disabled people, many of whom are reluctant to navigate the extra difficulties that using public transportation entails, to ride a bus to get around.
View this post on Instagram
Revolutionizing Accessibility in Public Transportation
In February 2026, in partnership with an Israeli accessibility technology company, Step-Hear which is on a mission to open up global surroundings to people with disabilities, the Ramat Gan Municipality unveiled a new AI-steered system. This enables passengers with disabilities to travel independently and safely from a bus stop to their destination, through a built-up, urban environment. The system harnesses AI, Bluetooth communication and a smart mobile app to guide passengers through the different stages of their journey.
The innovation takes in three critical journey stages. Firstly, at the bus stop, Bluetooth-based identification sparks audio guidance and real-time information on buses that are due to arrive.
Then, prior to boarding, a digital notification is sent to the driver’s display. This alerts them that a passenger with disabilities is waiting at the next stop, and indicates if they need to stop closer to the curb, or prepare a ramp.
During the ride itself, personalized alerts update travelers on progress and when their destination is approaching via sound, vibration, or visual cues.
Matrix Digital, a software services company involved in the pilot, emphasizes how the new transit aid also needed to cater to a multilingual local population, requiring streamlined communication to be developed in six different languages.
Orit Benvenistic, CEO of the Tigbur Group, which is partnering with Step-Hear, hails the transformational power of this new tech-led aid in improving the quality of life of people with disabilities: “It is a reality-changing tool that grants freedom, independence and security to people who until now avoided public transportation.”
A User-Friendly Aid Supporting the Challenges of a Range of Disabilities
Around 20 percent of Israelis live with some form of physical disability, according to the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics, as reported by Ynet. City officials enthuse that the new travel system offers a solution to inadequate accessibility solutions that will work for them.
The Israeli population as a whole has been ever keener to use public transportation, with a record 912 million passengers recorded in 2025 as services improve to try to wean locals off congestion- and pollution-triggering private car use, as Azortac reports. But while Tourist Israel identifies accessible travel in Israel as a rising trend, this new trial is the first project in the country to implement an integrated, end-to-end accessibility solution across an urban route.
So how can the system tailor itself to specific disability needs? For partially-sighted or blind people, it functions as “digital eyes,” offering continuous audio orientation. Early driver notifications help passengers with physical disabilities experience safer boarding and disembarking, and simplified real-time updates can help lower anxiety in people with cognitive disabilities. Meanwhile, visual and vibration-based alerts help those with hearing impairments, while a user-friendly interface tailored to people with limited digital literacy is ideal for seniors.
The goal, officials say, is to provide full independence and confidence for people with a wide range of disabilities, including visual, physical, cognitive and hearing impairments, leading to city officials viewing it as a holistic solution to traveling with a disability.
Significantly, Step-Hear’s patented platform already operates at thousands of accessibility points and public institutions in Israel and abroad.
If this pilot proves successful, it could lead to broader adoption by the Israeli Transportation Ministry and other cities, serving as a national model of inclusive, accessible public transit. As Ramat Gan Mayor, Carmel Shama-Hacohen puts it: “True accessibility is not measured by slogans, but by the ability of every resident to move through the city with confidence and full independence.”
