11.Smart Pedestrian crossing
It’s just a small intervention in the favour of pedestrians and other non motorized users of the streets. It is a small step to make street crossing a less difficult task for all user groups, without intervening much in the urban fabric.
12.Vibrant Pedestrian crossing
A pedestrian crossing is a technical element under the traffic control department. While people are supposed to follow it without questioning its existence, there are a few artists who thought of making this into a fun activity rather than a mundane crossing of the streets. It makes the street more interactive and thus keeps the pedestrians engaged. Also, people remember such gestures and happen to visit more frequently only to be a part of such interventions. If done on a larger scale at multiple places, I am sure this minuscule intervention will make walking on the streets more fun for all user groups.
13.Street Signage
We all notice signage boards on the streets helping us with directions and many other things in our daily commute. These can be sure made more interesting and something to give people to look at. Again, coming under the traffic department, the signages have to follow certain norms. But it can be made more interesting and interactive and fun as a part of our daily lives.
14.World Trade Center Transportation Hub
The structural steel ribs rise high to a height of 168’ from the ground level and one can only see how tiny one is, once in front of or inside the structure. Santiago Calatrava known for his engineering excellence, surprised the world again with this building. It links the procession of green, urban spaces that extend along Park Row from City Hall Park to St. Paul’s churchyard, to the gardens of the WTC Memorial and Battery Park along the Hudson River.
15.Tram Station Schwabinger Tor, Germany
This tram station with its curving canopies gives a character to the transit joint and aligns itself with the newly emerged district, giving it a powerful exclamation mark. It does stand out as a non conventional design for a tram station, as compared to others across the globe.
16.Private Rapid Transit (PRT) System, Heathrow
Private Rapid Transit (PRT) System in the form of electrical PODS, came up as an intervention to cope up with the traffic issues faced in road commuting. These PODS are self-driven and have a carrying capacity of 4-6 people in a go.
17.Bike-sharing systems – Paris, Mumbai, London
Last-mile connectivity is a pretty neglected concept in public transportation in our cities. There are distances which seem a lot to walk, but too small for a cab or a taxi ride. A bike comes in handy at such times. Cities across the world have started experimenting with the concept of bike-sharing. You are given a card and then you rent a bike right outside the transit hub and hop on. Once the work is done, you can put the bike in its place and lock it with your card, and the job is done. So far it has been fruitful and efficient and can be implemented at as many places as possible.
18.Local railway system, Mumbai
No public transport system in the world must have seen a density as massive as the local trains in Mumbai carry daily. Approximately 8 million commuters use the Mumbai locals for their daily commute. Knowing the plight of road travel, this is the fastest and relatively convenient means of commute in the city. Started in 1853, with just a few lines, the Mumbai local network is one of the most efficient rail networks in the world.
19.Bus shelters, London
Bus shelters in many cities are becoming backgrounds for setting up of hoardings and signages. The heritage districts in London appointed J. C. Decaux to design nominal bus shelters and the intervention is now used worldwide, with minimum alterations as per context. These are sleek and transparent bus shelters that allow people to sit comfortably, have a better wider look at the arrival and departure of the buses, interact with the surroundings, and yet be subtle in its design and form.
20.Luxury trains
Who would have imagined having a 5-star hotel room in a running train? But technology beats all excuses and comes up with interventions that keep you wondering. One such intervention is the luxury trains around the world. These are almost like running luxury hotels on wheels. Ranging from heritage tours to finger-licking food, every aspect is covered in these trains that scream luxury all over. There is a lot one can experience on these.
Conclusion
Innovation in transit design can be the smallest of the interventions to the most celebrated ones. Finally, it should be helpful to its end user and solve its purpose. Technology has widened the scope of intervening on these lines and a new intervention comes up every single day. Not all are viable, but it’s necessary to keep the brain scratching for the best result.
