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Future Muni
Case Study
Spatial UX. 2018

Cities rely on public transit networks to properly function. Although mobility may never achieve full equality, democratizing public transportation should be an ongoing effort as technology, demographics, and physical landscapes change. This project envisions a future of municiple transportation which leverages technology without exclusion.

With project partners:
Stacy Balter & Dulce Shultz

Problem

Can we further democratize public transport?  

   
Without a smartphone, wayfinding on San Francisco’s public transit system, Muni, can be difficult, which contributes to reliance on driving over public transit. How might we navigate the Muni system without the use of a smartphone?


Solution

Scaling across the city and technological contexts


The solution has to work at the scale of the city. This project proposes that with better mapping and feedback, we can help all riders achieve greater mobility.

Ro & Erik

Different resources, one goal


At the center of our story is Ro, an independent 71-year-old SF native, and Erik, a recent transplant in the throes of job searching. Ro lives with her husband in the Outer Richmond, and enjoys venturing out on the town for appointments and chores. Despite pleas from her kids, Ro chooses to live without a smartphone. Today, she starts out to make her weekly grocery run, which requires a bus trip to Japantown. Erik, our young professional, is heading downtown for a job interview.


Field research

Getting around on Muni


The public bus network in SF begins and ends with the bus stop. These markers of mobility take on three main forms: the pole station, the flag station, and the shelter station. The in-field analysis below highlights the experience of waiting for the bus at a Muni bus shelter. The five key principles of interaction design are used to observe this experience. Then, wider research findings are applied to propose initial recommendations to address these pain points across Muni-related assets.

Ro’s journey
A grocery trip to Japantown


The easiest route from Ro’s front door is on the 38 bus, which shoots straight down Geary Blvd and stops in front of Japantown. Ro has the 38 timetable practically memorized. Her regular stop is a pole station.

Pole

Ro’s regular bus is delayed


In this redesign, the pole is interactive, and bus arrivals are stacked and reorganized accordingly. Today, Ro sees that the 38 bus is dramatically delayed, so she decides to walk to a different bus stop to take the 1 bus instead.


Bus stop

Info display helps Ro find a new route


Ro walks two blocks to the nearby bus shelter where can can catch the 1 bus. She knows this bus heads down California St., but wonders how long the trip will take. She uses the station’s voice feature to find an answer. The digital interace on the shelter maps out her request and tracks where the bus is currently on its route.

On the side panel, another rider, Erik, checks out a digital display tracking all four buses. In this simplified view, the cards move up the display as buses near the stop, and reshuffle relative to one another. This display is designed for legibility so that users don’t have to crowd around the panel.


Vehicle display 

The bus shows mapping and crowd info 


After a short wait, the 1 bus pulls up to the curb. Before boarding, riders can see the bus’s capacity and quickly judge whether it’s better to wait for the next one. Above the windows, riders see a prominent display of stops and the bus’s location en route. This display helps increase awareness as the bus travels the city. People on the street level can engage in passive learning of buses and routes they might not be aware of otherwise.


Delay notifications

And finding an alternate route with AR


Aboard the bus, the transit ecosystem continues. There is a service alert from the main hub that roads to downtown are closed due to an accident. Ro’s trip is not impacted because she gets off soon. Erik, however, is rushing downtown for an interview and needs to figure out the most efficient transfer.

In this proposal, we recognize that the smartphone is a ubiquitous part of life. As smartphone technology grows ever smarter, it’s important for public transportation technology to keep pace, to our riders’ benefit. In the use case below, Erik walks up to the bus’s mapping system and uses his smartphone to quickly find the nearest alternative using AR technology.





Drivers in a driverless future

What next in an autonomous future 


What happens to the driver when vehicles become autonomous? What about the panes of glass drivers need to see out? In our case, what function does the bus driver serve when they no longer have to navigate the roads? This proposal maintains the importance of a human director aboard the bus, but whose main function changes from driving to serving as the human interface for the city. The bus driver can act as a city guide, surveil general conduct, and operate the vehicle from the middle of the bus instead of the front.



Success!

Our users get it done


Ro arrives at her station as planned. Erik makes his way off the bus to make his transfer.