DBA Inclusive Design Challenge 2005
Is that my bus? / Lacock Gullam
A radical redesign of the bus shelter and optimisation of smart-card technology to make bus travel a less stressful, easier option for those for whom it is the only one around.
Background
For people who are visually impaired, elderly or have mobility difficulties the bus may be their only means of independent and affordable travel. This project looks at how existing technologies can be better exploited to improve information delivery and the layout of a bus stop redesigned so that it becomes a responsive and accessible environment.
How Does it Work?
The design team identified these problem areas:
- Visually impaired people can neither see nor hail the bus
- Knowing the type of bus is crucial for wheelchair users
- Safety of the waiting environment
- Simplicity and reliability of information systems.
Their approach has been to reconfigure the layout and integrate existing telecommunication technologies into the physical design of the shelter, avoiding complex and inaccessible user devices by simple interaction at the point of need.
The Shelter
A bus shelter typically contains transport and service related information with advertising panels to finance its maintenance but their location creates a visual and physical obstruction to linear movement along the pavement.
By off-setting the ad panel from the waiting area and turning it to face the road, all information, ticketing, mapping and timetable requirements can be contained behind the advertising surface, with a dedicated area for help-points, journey planners and other internet based screen facilities. Creating a controlled, well-lit and standardised display area makes the information more legible and accessible.
The roof of this area is just wide enough for protection from the weather but discourages its use as a waiting area, affording a clearer view of approaching buses. The roof widens over the waiting area to the full width of the shelter, creating better wheelchair access.
Generous seats with contrasting armrests provide greater comfort yet leave free space for wheel chair users to be at the best possible location for accessing the bus. Colour and contrast alert pedestrians to the shelters presence and contrasting treatment at pavement level defines the waiting area and pedestrian flow.
Freed of all other functions this light, open, yet protected waiting area improves the bus driver's ability to understand the situation at the stop and eases passenger flow on and off the bus. The backbone of the roof that connects the two areas of the shelter can be equipped with lighting, speakers and CCTV enhancing perceived and actual safety
Information Delivery
Increasingly information is delivered through real time information screens and audible announcements. By providing a visually impaired person with a radio frequency proximity trigger as part of their ticket wallet, audio information on the location of the stop can be activated as they approach with the shelter acting as an audible landmark. The position of the speaker allows them to stand nearest the point of boarding.
By placing their smart card on a dedicated card reader, an audible announcement of the real-time information on the screen is activated. The smart card would contain information on a person's disability, allowing a message to be sent to the driver display onboard approaching buses. Alerted to their needs, the driver could then pull up at the optimum spot.
As the bus arrives, a message is triggered in the shelter announcing its number and direction while announcements on board are made at each approaching stop. When a visually impaired passenger alights, the device in their wallet automatically triggers the shelter announcement, confirming its location. Other passengers with specifically configured smart cards can take advantage of this service.
Judges' Comments
The judges loved the depth of the research and the responsiveness shown towards the physical and psychological needs of the user - an understanding of how a public service could respond to the user and respect not only their physical and sensory needs but the all-important one of dignity. The team had looked at what was there, reconfigured it based on actual user experience and existing technologies, introduced elements of innovation and had come up with a thorough and sensitive piece of design that could be implemented immediately.