Virtual public transportfor special education and MBO

For many students, traveling by public transport is not a matter of course. Crowds, transfers, delays, and social situations can cause stress. With Virtual Public Transport, they first practice these situations in a safe VR environment, at their own level and without consequences if something goes wrong.



If you want to give your students the world, teach them to travel!

For which students is Virtual OV suitable?

Virtual OVis suitable for students who want or need to practice traveling independently, but require extra support. For example, because they experience anxiety, have difficulty planning, become easily overstimulated, or feel insecure in unexpected situations.

Students practice preparing for a trip, recognizing stops, reading travel information, and understanding the steps required to get from the starting point to the destination.

Planning a route

Students practice preparing for a trip, recognizing stops, reading travel information, and organizing the steps needed to get from the starting point to the destination. In doing so, they train planning, overview, and working memory.

Choosing the right bus or train

In the VR environment, students practice with line numbers, directions, information signs, and checking whether they are at the correct stop or on the correct platform.

Dealing with delays and unexpected situations

Students experience what they can do in the event of a delay, a detour, a missed connection, or a change in the route. They practice shifting gears, staying calm, and choosing the next step.

Asking for help and social interactions

Virtual OV allows students to practice situations in which they ask for help from a driver, conductor, staff member, or fellow passenger. In this way, social interaction becomes part of the training, without the pressure of the real world.

Training executive functions and procedural memory

Virtual OV is more than a safe VR practice environment. The training is designed to allow students to actively practice the skills needed to travel independently: planning, maintaining attention, remembering information, making choices, and adapting when things do not go as expected.

Connection to citizenship and self-reliance

Virtual Public Transportmakes citizenship and self-reliance practiceable. Students practice making choices, asking for help, interacting with others, and participating in a recognizable public transport situation.

The training aligns with SLO core objectives for citizenship, particularly self-reliance and participation. Schools can link the scenarios to their own CED learning pathways and exit profile, from day activities to internships.

Independent travel is therefore not a standalone mobility goal, but a concrete exercise in daily participation.

What do students gain from it?

Virtual OV helps students gain more control over traveling by public transport step by step. The goal is not for every student to travel completely independently immediately, but rather to make the step towards independence smaller, safer, and better guided.

Possible returns are:

• more self-confidence in public transport situations
• better able to plan, remember and switch
• Less tension through recognition and repetition
• more independence regarding internships, work, further education, and free time
• more confidence to ask for help when needed

What do teachers and supervisors gain from this?

Virtual OVhelps not only students, but also teachers and supervisors. The training makes visible where a student gets stuck and provides a safe way to repeatedly practice travel skills.

For teachers and supervisors, this means:

- A safe practice environment without immediately going onto the real route

- More insight into students' tension, choices, and support needs

- Repeatable scenarios that align with different levels

- A practical link to citizenship, self-reliance, and participation

- Less reliance on scarce practice opportunities in the real world

In this way, learning to travel independently does not become a standalone activity, but a concrete learning experience that fits within daily guidance and educational practice.

Easilydeployable in school practice

Virtual Public Transport has been developed to be practically applicable within education and guidance. The training uses a VR headset and realistic public transport scenarios. Students practice individually or under supervision, while the teacher or supervisor can gradually build up the skill level.

With the train-the-trainer program, teachers and supervisors learn how to use Virtual Public Transport safely, effectively, and purposefully. In this way, VR does not become a standalone technology, but a useful tool within lessons, guidance, citizenship, or self-reliance programs.

Virtual public transport is:

• suitable for use in special secondary education, practical education, and secondary vocational education
• suitable for individual guidance and group-oriented learning trajectories
• to be combined with citizenship, mobility training and internship preparation
• repeatable, scalable, and adaptable to the student's level

Why is this interesting for school management?

Virtual OVhelps schools make self-reliance, citizenship, and participation concrete. Students practice skills that are important for internships, further education, work, leisure time, and social contacts.

Virtual OVinteresting for school management because it aligns with existing educational goals, is practically applicable within guidance, and visibly contributes to future-oriented and inclusive education.

Relevant for school management because Virtual OV:

• aligns with citizenship, CED learning pathways, and self-reliance
• can be used within existing guidance and educational goals
• prepares students for internships, work, and social participation
• gives teachers more insight into support needs
• offers a concrete tool for inclusive and future-oriented education

Experiences from practice



The strength of Virtual OVlies not only in the technology, but above all in what it makes possible for students and supervisors.

Who we work with

New Mobility Foundation

NS

Arriva

Knowledge platform

CROW