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AXS Travel

Accessible

bus travel

Context

The motivation behind our design stems from the problems that people with a physical disability have to deal with on a daily basis. We noticed that there is a group of people who don’t feel heard as they continuously run into obstacles while taking public transport, and especially the bus.

The problems with bus travel and accessibility

These are few of these obstacles we discovered when talking to people with a disability that travel in a wheelchair:

It is impossible to get into the bus independently
Some bus drivers don’t want to help, as they think that is a hassle to get out and open the fragile ramp manually
Other travellers don’t take the effort it takes to get into the bus into consideration
The experience in the bus is uncomfortable as it is very shaky which makes it feel unsafe, on top of the fact that it can be nauseating for people to sit backwards
It is difficult to move around in the bus as it is cramped
Getting out of the bus can be difficult because of ill-designed bus stops

We designed our bus with all these obstacles in mind to make sure that it will be accessible for all people with a disability.

App

For the collaboration of our app we have worked together with 9292, a mobility app that has been around for a lot of years. However, we made this app more inclusive, making it possible to cater to the needs of many different kinds of travellers. Previously, the app already had the option for wheelchair use, but we broadened the functionality in a few revolutionary ways.

The moment a wheelchair or other special traveller is planning the app, the busdriver is informed of this, the layout of the bus is changed to accommodate you, and the automatic curb matching system is engaged for the stop the wheelchair is getting on. Also, the recommended route is dynamic to every commuter, using data from the same kind of traveller for average wait and transfer time to personalise every journey.

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Public transport in an aging society

The underlying problem we try to tackle has to do with public transport in an ageing society, combined with the fact that older people decide to move to the countryside, although they might lack mobility. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in the EU as a whole, society has been steadily ageing.

It is found that the number of people over the age of 65 could reach 30% of the EU population by 2030, compared to only 10% in 1960. (Augère-Granier & McEldowney, 2020) On top of that, it happens that people tend to move to the countryside when they get older. As they don’t have to work anymore and prefer to live in a more quiet and green environment. It is found that people above the age of 60 who live in the city, tend to move to the east and north of the Netherlands, where there are less public transport options. (Kooiman, 2020)

Older people and people with a disability have to use public transport if they want to travel independently. This is a problem, as we have already seen that buses are not accessible to these groups of people. On top of that, a survey carried out by Rupprecht Consult, found that public transport professionals all across europe agree with the fact that the ageing population creates an issue for public transport, with accessibility as one of the biggest problems. The participants agreed that this problem will only get worse in the future. (Fiedler, 2007) This proves that this is a real problem that needs to be solved to enable easy and independent travel, a high quality of life and improvement of general wellbeing for these groups of people.

The team behind AXS

THE NEXT GENERATION OF ACCESSIBLE MOBILITY

User experience

Story board

FOCUSING ON PEOPLE WITH A PHYSICAL DISABILITY

IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Our goal

As we are grounded by the developments of technology and the implementation of them. Our final goal for accessible travel should be known to the public. AXS Travel strives for equality for all travellers no matter their mobility needs. Allowing everyone to travel with the same amount of ease. Without needing to compromise on the amount of time that is needed to prepare for travel. Our services should allow for every passenger to travel comfortably and feel like they fit in.

The optimisation of our own products and services play a big part in reaching this goal. As well as the infrastructure of cities. The infrastructure should be complementary to all travelling methods. And fulfil the needs of the people to allow them to travel to where they need to be. Allowing for seamless travel between places even if they need to transfer. By optimising the communication to benefit all people travelling. Allowing for transparency regarding travel. And updating travel information the instant it is known to the travelling companies.

Collaboration

To make sure our intervention works seamlessly with the public transport system, we agreed to collaborate together with 9292. We believe that by using the system and the app that is already in place, our service will be more likely to succeed immediately. We used the knowledge and expertise of 9292 to set up our own app successfully. Apart from this, the collaboration is also beneficial for 9292, as it is one of their main goals to provide easy and accessible ways to travel from A to B for everyone, including people with a physical disability.

We chose to collaborate with 9292, as it is one of the most used apps in The Netherlands, on top of the fact that it is not tied to one company or service. It manages to tie all the different services from the different stakeholders together in one app in a cohesive and clear way. And we believe it is a trustful company as they already have 30 years of experience in reliable travelling advice. (9292, n.d.)

The service was really nice, now wheelchair users are not dependent on the bus driver anymore as the ramp works fully automatically. I don’t have to worry about not getting the help I need when the bus driver does not want to bother with getting the ramp out, which happened to me way too often previously.

Payton Hillman

My experience with AXS was amazing! I did not have to worry about getting on the bus and there was enough room to fit my mobility scooter. The app is easy to use and it helps in shortening the time it takes to plan everything, as it knows how much time I need to get from the bus stop to the tram stop for example.

Riley Jones

Finally a company that takes accessibility into account. My whole life I have been struggling with public transport. Either the equipment was out of order, or people just didn’t acknowledge my call for help leaving me stranded waiting at the bus stop. It was really easy to get on and off the bus, the bus drive itself was comfortable and the bus even knew to make space for me!

Robert Harris

Empathy map

To get a better understanding of our target group, we conducted interviews and discovered how they feel about public transport. We created an empathy map on the right, that encapsulates the view of people with a physical disability on public transport. This helped us come up with the design of AXS.

Meaningful mobility

For people with a physical disability, there are three core needs with each their own sub-needs which we tackle in our design. These can be seen on the left.

References

Augère-Granier, M. & McEldowney, J. (2020, December). Older people in the European Union's rural areas. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2020/659403/EPRS_IDA(2020)659403_EN.pdf

Fiedler, M. (2007, August). Older people and public transport. Rupprecht Consult.https://www.emta.com/IMG/pdf/Final_Report_Older_People_protec.pdf

Kooiman, N. (2020, November 4). Een analyse van het verhuisgedrag van zestigers. CBS. https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/longread/statistische-trends/2020/een-analyse-van-het-verhuisgedrag-van-zestigers?onepage=true

9292. (n.d.). Missie, visie en kernwaarden. https://9292.nl/over-9292/missie-visie-en-kernwaarden

The design

In order to make driving the bus accessible for everyone. The AXS bus is designed to adapt to passengers with special needs. With all the extra aids on wheels, you can easily enter this bus and find a suitable (seating) place without any problem. Traveling with a wheelchair, mobility scooter, rollator or pram no longer causes any hassle.

Exterior

The main aim of AXS is for passengers with disabilities to easily travel by bus independently. In the exterior this change means that at each stop, a special camera scans the height of the pavement/bus stop. Based on this, the bus sinks through its axles or rises a little so that it levels exactly with the floor. A ramp slides out and so the user can easily drive in or out without going up or down a ramp. Everything is completely automatic so there is no more dependency on cooperation from the bus driver. It is also now easier and less dangerous for people with mobility problems to walk into or out of the bus. Before the bus departs, the ramp slides back in and the bus returns to its regular height.

Interior

To maximise the utilisation of the bus space and ensure that there are enough seats even if several people with an assistive transport device want to use the bus at the same time, the seats in the bus are modular. Based on the resources selected in the app, seats fold in and out automatically. This way AXS can provide all the needs that are necessary for each traveller and allows for passengers to choose their own spot. Preventing discomfort by giving options.