Robert Dooley

A personalised public transportation vision.

This project is a shared public bicycle hire system for 2040 that increases cycling rates by offering a tailored experience that is bespoke to individual users. This is achieved by combining advanced manufacturing and automated assembly, so the bicycle self-adjusts to the individual's size and riding style as they approach. This is supported by a modular storage system, so the rider can attach the storage they need, when they need it. 

The concept seeks to engage individuals emotionally, building a relationship between both the person and the vehicle system, but also with other riders. Drawing inspiration from 'The Knowledge' the User Interface (UI), which prioritises sound and haptic communication over the visual, connects riders to share both local navigation and points of interest information, building a sense of community throughout the system.

The bicycle UI quietly informs the rider of useful local environmental and health information, including pollution, UV and pollen levels, as well as offering the option for riders to, if they wish, display information collected by their own wearable technology products.

Today, public transportation largely fails to offer the quality of experience that private automotive solutions do. Through a revolution in transportation design methods and manufacturing, it might just be that tomorrow, the public becomes premium.

Context

Mass-customisation is common in automotive design as it provides the opportunity for manufacturers to adapt the configuration of mass produced parts in order to offer better quality user experiences. Such customisation is rare in public transportation design, which traditionally has to engage from the contrasting perspective, to produce utilitarian solutions that can be used by as many people as possible. This means that whilst public transport solutions offer quick, cheap and sustainable forms of travel, they routinely fail to engage the user on an emotional level. The consequences are that fewer people opt to use public transport.

Today, 4% of people in the United Kingdom cycle everyday. This compares to an EU average of 12%, the highest being the Netherlands at 43%. The small number of regular cyclists in the UK is in part a problem of insufficient infrastructure. This problem is particularly acute in London, which despite recent improvements, is still far from cycle-friendly compared to many other European cities. By 2041 London will have 10.5 million residents and the Mayor's transport strategy aims for 80% of journeys to be made by bicycle, walking or public transport. The increasing number of private, shared bicycle schemes represent a race to the bottom, offering low cost rides at the sacrifice of user data and lack of proper urban planning. They, like public transportation, fail to deliver upon emotional needs.