Changing the climate of public transport : a design research initiative

The Public Transport Design Research Initiative, developed by Monash University’s Faculty of Art & Design and the Institute of Transport Studies in 2005, aims to develop original and innovative design concepts and approaches to address the challenges faced in the design of future public transport vehicles and infrastructure. The initiative is part of Monash Transport, a multi-disciplinary and inter-faculty network at Monash University. This paper presents some of the outcomes from a developing series of design projects run as part of this Initiative. To date, over fifty design proposals have been presented as part of the undergraduate design program, and recently two design PhDs in public transport have developed as part of the growth of the Initiative. The paper predominantly discusses two major undergraduate studio design projects. The first of these projects showcases a series of case studies that responded to Melbourne’s 2030 plan, and in particular the proposal to increase public transport usage to 20% by the year 2020. The selected case studies highlight not only the diversity of design solutions that resulted in three State Awards, but also the unique approaches to undertaking the studio project. The second project discusses the Melbourne Lightrail Towards 2020 competition where teams of Victorian tertiary design students were asked to design a tram for Melbourne based upon Alstom’s Citadis platform. This paper presents a brief overview of five case studies that made it to the finals of the competition, including the winning team