A new bus app for visually impaired people in Tauranga is being deemed a success by those who have used it.

The new Bayhopper Transit App, launched by Bay of Plenty Regional Council in May, has been used 84,000 times by passengers.

Feedback to Regional Council from visually impaired bus users has included comments about the app being clear to read and working well with the Voiceover and Talkback features.

As a result of feedback several colour changes were made to make the app easier to read.

The app allows users to see the next buses arriving at their location, set a favourite route number, and plan their journey in real-time.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Public Transport committee chairman, Lyall Thurston says they've had great feedback from a wide variety of users.

'To be able to make such a difference in the visually impaired community has been fantastic. Many people are saying how it has transformed their bus travel with the real time data and map feature showing the location of the bus really helpful.”

The success of the app on Tauranga and Te Puke urban routes, as well as Katikati/Omokoroa, has the public transport committee looking at rolling it out in other parts of the Western Bay of Plenty.

The app has enabled Regional Council to provide notifications of route changes and bus stop changes directly to user's phones.

Transit App is supported in over 165 cities in 10 countries around the world, showing local information as you travel.