The medallions are round, about two inches in diameter, and have the word "bus" written in both raised letters and braille. They also have standardized placement on the poles to ensure consistency.

The signage was suggested by a visually impaired member of the SamTrans Americans with Disabilities Act Technical Advisory Committee as a way to improve the system's ease of use for customers with visual impairments.

El Camino Real was targeted for the first phase of the project because it's the system's most heavily traveled corridor for bus riders in general, and the disabled population. Buses that travel along this route also connect with other transit systems including Caltrain and BART, making this route accessible to regional transportation.

"It's a real problem for a customer who is blind or has limited vision when they know there is a bus stop on El Camino Real, but there are so many different poles," said San Mateo County Transit District Accessibility Specialist Matt Sieger. "Customers have a hard time figuring out when they reach the correct pole, so this is a viable solution."

The next phase of the project is to install braille and raised-character route number signs at all transit centers that have multiple bus berths in the SamTrans service area. The route number will help customers with visual impairments know where to wait for their bus at these busy transit centers.