OREANDA-NEWS. Toyota City, Japan, May 14, 2015?For wheelchair users and others with disabilities and/or special needs, certain aspects of traveling by car can be problematic and uncomfortable. Finding the nearest special needs restroom1, for example, presents a challenge when planning a trip: what route should you take? When and where can you stop?

To help address this problem, Toyota is launching its newly-developed Restroom Finder app on May 21. The app, which works in conjunction with the Toyota T-Connect and Lexus G-Link telematics systems, lets users search for special needs restrooms located in rest areas on highways and public roads.

Restroom Finder provides detailed information about facilities, such as ease of access to the restrooms, and covers a wide variety of service areas, including Toyota's own Welcab Stations2. At present, the app offers information for three prefectures in the Tokai region (Aichi, Gifu and Mie). It also provides route guidance to facilities fitting the parameters within these regions.

The app can filter search results by facility type or user needs, including location of handrails or presence of care beds, diaper-changing tables, and ostomate facilities. Users can view detailed information on facilities that fit the search parameters and set them as destinations. In addition, even if a destination has already been set in the initial navigation screen, facilities can be added as en route stops or as additional destinations.

The non-profit Iseshima Barrier Free Tour Center3 was asked to supervise development of this app. Based on their interpretation4 of "personal barrier-free standards", advice was sought on what type of information ought to be collected and provided, and the user-friendliness of the app.

From May 21 to 23, Toyota will exhibit Restroom Finder at the International Welfare and Health Industry Exhibition—Welfare 2015, in Nagoya.