When you’ve been doing the same thing on The Better Way every day, how easily can you learn a better way to do it?  Can the energy your body expends to get underground be harnessed to help power public transit?  Suppose you could know, before the train pulls in, where on the platform the least crowded cars will stop?  

Engineering students at the University of Toronto displayed working models answering these, and many other questions, at the 2009 PRAXIS II Design Showcase all day Wednesday, April 15, 2009.  For the past couple of years, PRAXIS has focused on the TTC, noted third-year student Jane Chiu, because the students developed a particular interest in local public transit; fourth-year student Kristen Facciol explained that previously, PRAXIS had not been focused on one theme. 

First-year engineering students began the term by identifying and researching issues of TTC usability, accessibility, and sustainability.  They settled on six design challenges.  Each team of students produced a project proposal for one of them, according to Alan Chong and Jason Foster, their instructors.  And each team’s project included a cost estimate.

Two themes kept coming up as I spoke with teams and examined their projects.  The students made explicit the need for passengers to learn new behaviours.  Sean Sit, for example, termed this a process of cultural change.  And many teams explained the way they had adapted technologies successful elsewhere in Toronto and elsewhere in the world to meet the challenges of these new tasks.

The limited area meant teams took turns displaying their projects.  The displays were engaging, and the students clearly and eagerly explained their work.  I regret my other commitments meant I couldn’t be there all day.  I’m sure I missed a lot.  Here’s a summary of what I learned, organized according to the six challenges.

A: Improving Passenger Safety Near the TTC’s Exposed Subway Tracks

Team 56: Armin Hamta, Jason Hambrey, Goce Jankuloski,

This team recommends installing emergency stop buttons under the tracks, which passengers who fall can reach.  They also advise installing infrared cameras for track area observation, with computerized data analysis, so TTC personnel can immediately notify drivers if a person is detected on the tracks.

 

Team 64: Kevin Choi, Hyung Jin Lee, Hui Lin

Spring-loaded platform doors are pushed aside by passengers walking through the openings to board trains, then close automatically to protect passengers when no train is in the station.

 

Team 67:  Syed Tamzid, Michael Tang, Elton Zhang

Sturdy plastic barriers, lowered to below platform level (by infrared photo sensors activating pneumatic controls) when trains arrive, will prevent accidents, homicides, and suicides.  Installation can be adapted to all subway stations.

 

B: Solving the Heat Loss Problem

Team 34:  Navid Nourian, Aakash Sahney, Hamed Shalileh

Thin piezoelectric panels, positioned where every passenger will step on one or more (without noticing them), can capture the force of each step to power ambient systems on the TTC, such as lighting.  These panels convert mechanical pressure to electrical energy.  The technology is in use on one subway line in Japan; this team believes the Bloor-Yonge station, Toronto’s busiest, is the place to start here, explaining that, because climbing and descending stairs concentrates a person’s mass, this process is very efficient. 

 

Team 58:  Michael Lee, Cheng Bo Li, Steven Yu

Museum Station was the site for this team’s project.  They recommend subway platform sliding doors, made of two glass panels with inert insulating gas in between, to reduce noise, and heat loss from wind chill, yet permit light transmission.  These doors would also increase passenger safety.

C: Improving Way-finding Signage on the TTC

Team 74:  Colin Merkel, Jordan Ponn, Zongyi Yang, Jaeeun (Angela) Yoo

Colour-coded signage at subway stops, with a strip on the floor of each colour for passengers to follow, will help people in subway stations find the routes, buses, and exits  they want.

 

Team 78: Jason Deng, John Qin, Guang Wei Yu 

This team developed a number of signage recommendations.  They want a consistent font and uniform arrows, in white letters on black (to avoid difficulties for the colour-blind), with essential information only.  They advise ensuring that all signs be positioned consistently for visability, and lit well.

 

D: Service Delays Caused by the Inefficiency of Passenger Dynamics Into and Out of Subway Cars

Team 27:  Glen Chao, Tim Cheng, Ray Ger

Subways in Singapore, Stockholm, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Turin, Paris and Taipei were all evaluated by this team.  They recommend vertical light tubes, next to doors, that flash at boarding time, plus two different audible signals, one when doors are about to close, and a more urgent sound as doors are closing, to increase boarding efficiency.  As a train leaves a station, thermal people-counters in each car will transmit information to the next station, so those waiting can position themselves on the platform where the least-crowded cars will stop.  Results from this team’s electronic survey indicate that passengers are likely to use this information to decide where to stand.

 

Team 35:  Kevin Cho, Garrett Kuhlmann, Ashton Wu

These team members believe replacing the amber warning lights on the TTC cars with signals that flash green as the doors open, yellow once the operator decides to close the doors, and red when the doors are closed, as well as making the audible signals adjustable, depending on platform noise, will improve travel efficiency.  ”It’s so simple,”  says Kuhlmann.  ”That’s the beauty of it!” 

 

 Team 38:  Sean Sit and Aditya Thakare

Doors will become mono-directional rather than bi-directional: passengers will only be able to exit or enter from each door.  Platforms will be marked so passengers know where to stand to board the trains.  As well, an LED count-down (like those on Toronto’s traffic lights, which are believed to have reduced pedestrian fatalities) above each set of doors on each TTC car will help passengers decide whether they have enough time to enter.  These visual signals would be paired with audible signals.  

 

Team 70: Victor Feng, Owen Tao, Francis Teng

Turnstiles installed on the yellow strips at the edges of platforms, located exactly where doors will be when subway cars stop (with one at the security car wheelchair-accessible) will prevent delays due to overcrowding, door-holding, and door-blocking.  

 

E: Revising TTC Bus Interiors to Maximize Space and Boost Passenger Satisfaction

Team 66: Sarah Boetto, Yenson Lau, Eric Ma, Bahing Sivapathasundaram

A U-shaped seating area, around the inside perimeter of the back of the bus, will increase seating capacity, while making empty seats more visible.  Extra space in the centre will encourage rearward passenger movement, especially if supplemented by a large row of arrows on the bus floor, pointing to the rear.  These arrows will be clear to passengers who cannot read the current English ‘please move back’ signs.  

 

(Team Number Not Given):  Phil Chen, David Koo, Ben Ouyang

One way to solve bus overcrowding is to design buses to hold more people.  This team redesigned the Orion VII’s interior.  Seats that can fold will permit more standees during rush hours, and also create more centre space, which should encourage more people to move away from the doors.  Moving wheelchair areas closer to the entrance will increase efficiency; as well, providing a dual-purpose stroller/wheelchair section will make aisle space more consistently available.   

F: Improving the Emergency Response System on the TTC Subways to Decrease Delay Time and Increase Safety

Team 63:  Alex Piggott, Zhiyao Ma, Wenbo Yin

This team addressed the poor sound quality of the current subway car radio system.  They recommend a two-way system in subway cars, to increase response speed, and a video camera system (for passenger privacy, activated only during emergencies).

 

I hope PRAXIS is publicized well next year:  it’s an exciting way to spend the day.  And I look forward to contributions to public transit improvement from this student cohort.

Photo credits:  Bill Michelson