METAMORPHOSIS || Rethinking Transit Design for a Safer Future Post Covid
How would metro travel of the future look like post Covid?
International design company, tangerine, recently unveiled a design concept to revamp metro train design that would allow more passengers to use this transit option while still being considerate of social distancing measures within a confined space. They are looking to achieve this objective by increasing commuters’ confidence in metro trains as a safe and hygienic mode of transportation.
Illuminated doorways are designed traffic light style for safe boarding
‘Metamorphosis’ seeks to help train operators better plan for future pandemics by enabling them to adapt the train interior to minimize germ transmission and to enforce social distancing measures. The adaptable carriage interior features slidable screens that can be deployed to separate the space into ‘travel bubbles’. Flexible seating arrangements also allow commuters to angle their bodies away from other to increased privacy and lower the risk of cross-contamination. The design also proposes a HEPA air filtration system to constantly change the air, and hand sanitizer stations to aid cleanliness.
Perch seating angles bodies away from one another
Metamorphosis carriage layout showing sliding division panels deployed to segment the carriage into “travel bubbles” to aid social distancing
The design also seeks to resolve a big pain point with the novel coronavirus, which is proper and effective contact tracing. As more people go back to work and school, there will be more touchpoints between individuals, and one of these hot spots would be when they are commuting with everyone else on their way to work.
QR codes placed strategically inside each carriage will enable a Carriage Track and Trace system, with a code unique to each carriage, so passengers can quickly and easily scan the QR code to record their journey so that they can be alerted if they have shared a carrige with someone who later reports becoming unwell or have tested positive for Covid.
This solution makes metro commuting safer and more hygienic, and prepares operators for both high and low demand times throughout the day while enforcing a socially distanced environment. The world was forced to ‘shut down’ with the onset of the coronavirus, but now, with such innovations from designers and businesses around the globe, it seems the world is ready to slowly get moving again.
QR codes will enable effective contact tracing
ABOUT TANGERINE
For three decades, international design consultancy tangerine has been defining the juncture between customer experience, product, and service innovation, creating game-changing solutions that our clients and their customers love. From studios in London, Seoul and Brazil we work globally with world-leading service providers, retailers and manufacturers across a wide range of industry sectors including mobility, retail, hospitality, consumer goods and electronics. Our story is one of successful and lasting partnerships that create meaningful points of difference and strategic commercial advantage and for our clients.
Photos courtesy of tangerine
