Radically rethinking the bus system

[Evil Eye]

Commuting by bus has changed little since our grandparents’ days – we wait in line at a bus shelter and board a bus that takes us on a set route to our destination. A digital timetable with an approximate time for the next arrival is about as 21st Century as the average bus stop gets.



For electronics giant Philips, the bus stop is due a radical overhaul. Instead of buses sticking to the same old route every day, why can’t they adapt according to their passengers’ needs, asked the company’s designer Cheaw Hwei Low, who is based in their Singapore design studio. Why can’t bus stops themselves be physically transformed, and move away from the static shelters we are used to seeing on our streets?



So, Low has transported the concept of the bus stop to street light posts and even the smartphone we carry in our pocket. Low’s vision has street lights becoming mini bus stops by integrating bluetooth technology, which connects with transport and smartphone apps – possibly bringing to an end the sight of empty buses ploughing along set, fixed routes.



The Philips redesign has gone far beyond the physical and has completely redesigned the actual process; bus providers would be able to react in real-time to the demands of paying passengers. Using an app, passengers could mark where they want to go from and where they want to end up – with the bus company working out possible routes based on the current demand.



Low talks BBC Future through the concept behind his redesign – one he thinks could radically change the way the population moves around a city.



Why choose the bus stop?



We asked ourselves what is an object that we use and come across every day but do not give much attention, yet it is something we share as a common experience? We hit upon the bus stop, a universal facility seen in all cities, be they mature, developing or underdeveloped. But public transport touches on many aspects of lifestyle, city function, societal behaviour, public-policy making and infrastructure. This makes it complicated, and at the same time interesting to look at beyond its immediate form and function. It became clear we could not look at it merely as a bus stop, but as a total function system, which led us to reframe the problem.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130327-new-bus-stop-for-flexible-travel





How would you feel about such an implementation?