While buses are very convenient as a conveyance system, they’re not really easy to board and de-board. Couple that with passenger impatience, and you really have quite a pathetic experience for elderly, disabled, or pregnant people. Now creating a new and improved experience for these people involves changing the passenger mindset at first, but the Universal Bus Bell is also a nice starting point. The bell’s design contains two buttons. A larger one for special passengers, and a smaller regular button. On pressing the bell, the driver is made aware of the nature of the passenger disembarking. If it happens to be a special passenger, the bus driver can make certain arrangements to ensure a smooth de-boarding experience. This could be anything from slowing the bus down before braking, to even stopping beside a staircase/ramp. The regular button would indicate that the person getting off the bus is a regular commuter.
The system would work on passenger reliability more than anything else (knowing that the passenger will press the correct button), but the clever bit is that most regular passengers wouldn’t abuse this facility because the disembarking procedure for regular commuters is much faster than for special commuters. Way to hack into human laziness to solve problems!
Designer: Jinwon Heo
