A Car for All - or Mobility for All? Part II - 8 June 2006

by Roger Coleman and Dale Harrow

In the uiGarden we seldom have article on car design. This article was first published in 1997, but even today we can still learn a lot from this article. This is part II.

Read this article in Chinese (Translated by Lei Zhou, Proofread by Christina Li)
translated with permission from the author.

Read the first part of this article

Mobility for all-new service and vehicle typologies

In terms of new services and vehicle typologies that can fit into a vision of personal mobility in the future, these final research points assume considerable importance. In attempting to think beyond the car, an understanding of the cost-benefit of mobility is a useful starting point. Here, a short anecdote may help to make a point. The father of one of the authors celebrated his 82nd birthday in October. He is thinking of buying a new car and, after discussing the pros and cons with him it emerged that he spends over £3,000 per year on his car (including depreciation, road tax, maintenance and fuel), which is no small amount. For him, owning a car is all about independence and choice-he can come and go as he pleases. But he does not enjoy driving in the dark, and often feels tired and finds it hard to concentrate. In other words, driving is not without disbenefits, and if there were some reliable alternative he would willingly trade in his car and let someone else take the strain. Add to what he spends the costs that the author and his brother would happily meet to ensure his continuing mobility and independence, and we have the financial basis for a whole range of services meeting his personal needs. The consequential savings to the state would be considerable and more than underwrite investment in better links between public and private transport services.

There is a convergence here between environmental, personal, familial and statutory needs and responsibilities that offers very interesting opportunities for vehicle manufacturers and transport providers. For example: what if Ford, sponsors of this conference, were to consider offering ‘Mobility for Life’ rather than a new car every three or four years? What difference would that make to brand loyalty? And what sort of vehicle would it give rise to? Suppose I could order a taxi whenever I wanted it, or a car, or a bus or coach, depending on the sort of journey I was taking, and all from the company I once bought cars from. Suppose a visit to the supermarket involved ordering a pick-up via teletext, and a convivial trip on a small bus which would deliver me and my purchases back to my front door, with a friendly driver to carry the bags? Or imagine a trip to visit my grandchildren in Italy beginning with a courier collecting me from home and delivering me ‘fast track’ to my plane, with someone else to meet me at the other end and put me on a train to the station where my son and daughter-in-law would collect me? The fact is, a clever mixture of information technology, imaginative service concepts and specialised vehicles facilitating this concept of ‘Mobility for All’ could reduce environmental demand, increase accessibility, improve the quality of life of older and disabled people (and ‘normal’ people too) and offer new commercial opportunities to the very companies threatened by a reduction in traffic volume.

A hard look at the realities of environmental stress, the ageing of populations and the crisis welfare systems are encountering, suggests that this may be a viable alternative to car ownership. At the same time, this shift from ‘A Car for All’ to ‘Mobility for All’ is quite in keeping with contemporary thinking about the shift from product to service and from the material to the virtual. Environmentalists talk of reducing the global impact of human activity by a factor of between five and 50 over the next 50 years, and a good point to start is transportation. At the Royal College of Art we have been thinking about what this might mean and offer the following case studies of staff and student work as an insight into how this new mix of services and vehicle typologies might evolve.

Recent and future trends in vehicle design

For the generation now moving into retirement, personal transport is synonymous with freedom, dignity and security. This suggests that mobility, in the future, will mean having a greater range of transport solutions at our disposal-a more integrated transport policy that blurs the traditional boundaries between public and private services and vehicles. Patterns of car ownership will change as more vehicles are banished from town and city centres, increasingly pedestrianised to ease congestion, improve security and provide a better quality of life for all those who work, live and pursue leisure activities there. While reservations about public transport-mixing with other people, lack of comfort and security, etc.-can be greatly improved by interior layout, better seating, lighting to aid security and privacy, and higher grade interior materials and accessories to promote a feeling of ambient luxury.

The increasing pressures to reduce materials and energy consumption in vehicle manufacture and use will lead to vehicles that last longer, can be adaptable throughout their working life and recycled or re-manufactured at the end of it. In simple terms cars will last longer and be more adaptable. For example, the traditional family car may encompass the needs of a growing family for its younger users, and act as a social space-and extension of the house-as they grow older. In America, older people are taking to the highways in their retirement to explore the vastness of their native country which they have been unable to enjoy during their working lives. Future trends indicate that vehicles and transport systems will have to respond to an increased emphasis on freedom, versatility, variety of use and social interaction, and do so by exploiting technical advances.

Over the past twenty years personal security has become a prerequisite of everyday life: theft, vandalism and personal attacks are more prevalent and directed not specifically at the elderly or vulnerable. Consequently, security in and out of the vehicle has become a priority across the age ranges.

Where restrictions in the range of movements are encountered, ergonomics remains an area of significant interest to drivers of all ages, in particular as expectations of comfort, fatigue reduction and personalisation of the driving environment have risen substantially. This leads to a great deal of interest in increased flexibility, adaptability and user-friendliness in the mainstream of vehicle design.

The problem is that the major car manufacturers of the world continue to realise new designs around the slow and calculated evolution of a generic product. Experience tells them that if they get things wrong the costs can be enormous, like the profits if they get things right. So, advances in new directions are difficult to accommodate. Where age-friendly design can succeed is in offering a new direction for research and innovation, the results of which can be introduced to mainstream product ranges and targeted at the age sectors which are at present expanding and will continue to do so in future. Designed correctly, such improvements can appeal to a wider market sector by diminishing age differences and offering real benefits to younger purchasers-a ‘car for all’ that the marketing people can understand!

Scenarios and case studies

Against this background we can now move on to discuss in greater detail some scenarios and vehicle typologies developed at the Royal College of Art over the past few years, which consider both older driver needs and the move from product to service which we have identified as two powerful determinants in the evolution of transportation design and development.

Vehicles targeted at particular user groups e.g. ‘ladies’ or ‘oldies’ cars, can be seen as patronising and be rejected by both target group and other potential purchasers, whereas off-road and MPV’s have demonstrated the benefits of a large cabin area, easy entry and exit, high roofs and large door apertures which appeal to a majority of consumers and that can be particularly helpful for older people. The seat height allows the user to sit ‘on’ rather than ‘in’ the car, aiding parking, improving visibility, and making it easier to turn in the driving seat.

Off-road vehicle

Multi-person vehicle (MPV)

Although few older people are wealthy, a significant proportion are ‘comfortably’ provided for and some have considerable disposable income. Two examples from Royal College of Art students Jim Das and Geoff Gardiner, address this market sector by exploring a ‘classic’ solution in terms of styling, taking care to integrate many of the age-friendly elements identified above to appeal to drivers of all ages. Features include sliding doors, level floor, spacious cabin, increased roof height, lowered boot access etc., and the interior components are designed to be adaptable: e.g. the seats can be upgraded to give extra support or to pivot for ease of entry.

Classic styling with age-friendly features

The driver is assisted with automatic gear change and power steering, and is offered joystick type controls in one design, which give the driver more space and make the car usable for people who would presently require an adapted vehicle. Instrumentation is by ‘head up display’, projected on the windscreen to aid driver concentration. Information is ‘hierarchically driven’, and only what is important is presented at any time so as not to overload the driver.

50+ Saab (Jim Das, Royal College of Art Vehicle Design)
Interior with swivel seats and joystick control

The format of a large coupe reflects the lifestyle of a prosperous semi-retired couple, and the designs portrays qualities of sophistication and value. The cars features high shoulder lines to give a feeling of security and the front and rear sections have soft reactive surfaces that aid protection and reduce repair costs. The car would be manufactured from lightweight steels and re-cyclable plastics.

50+ Saab (Jim Das, Royal College of Art Vehicle Design)
Exterior

Taxis and people movers

The London Cab has been recently re-designed to offer more interior space and be wheelchair friendly. The London Cab is not only an icon of the capital, it also offers one of the most flexible transport systems available. Ideally it should form the core of an integrated transport system within the capital, bridging the gap between people’s homes and other transport services like the bus and underground. The problem is that it is relatively expensive and not easy to order for short trips, which means that for many older people it is not a viable travel option. A number of alternative scenarios have been investigated at the Royal College of Art, all of which seek to keep fares at an affordable level by reducing the capital and running costs of the taxi, use information technology to offer transport on ‘demand’-with passengers booking by telephone or teletext-and extending its user profile to include disabled and older users.

Lightweight taxi ­ The Urban Rickshaw
Sotoris Kavros, Royal College of Art Vehicle Design

On London’s congested streets a black cab is unlikely to travel more than 60 miles in a day, making an alternative power source (electricity, hydrogen, LPG) feasible. This would reduce space requirements and design limitations by eliminating engine and gearbox. Sotoris Kavros drew the inspiration for his lightweight taxi from the Tuk-Tuk rickshaw of Indonesia, reworking the idea around an alternative power source. The two passengers sit behind the driver, and the Urban Rickshaw has been designed to be as narrow as possible, to aid travelling through city streets and parking, while offering good headroom and easy access through doors that fold back alongside the vehicle. The exterior is styled to look ‘taxi-like’ with soft bumpers to prevent pedestrian injury.

The greatly reduced capital cost of this vehicle compared with a new Metro cab costing £28,000, could cut fares in half and still offer the driver a good living.

Short-haul Taxi

In designing this taxi, Peri Salvaag envisaged a future where large parts of the city are closed to cars. The function of this vehicle is move people from place to place within the city centre and link tourist and leisure attractions with public transport. The taxi runs on electricity, with the batteries forming the floor pan of the vehicle. It would be used for short journeys, typically lasting less than 20 minutes at relatively slow speeds, and would be able to enter pedestrianised areas. Safety is therefore an important feature, along with accessibility. The passengers would order the cab electronically-in the foyer of a museum say-and be advised about when to expect it to arrive. The driver is there to provide security and assistance, and payment would be by credit card.

Short-haul taxi
Peri Selvaag, Royal College of Art Vehicle Design

Short trips do not require the same level of passenger comfort as longer ones do and the vehicle exploits every inch of its tiny footprint with an interior design that features a centrally mounted driving seat with either two passengers perching behind on small half seats (bum rests), or a wheelchair passenger who would enter through a door and ramp at the rear. The exterior is designed to look strong, stable and dignified.

Driverless Taxi

The most radical proposal for a city taxi that has been investigated is for a driverless vehicle that would work within pedestrian zones. The taxi follows a guidance system in the road surface and is in constant communication with a control station that locates vehicles as demanded, manages their journeys in the most efficient way and parks them in parking zones when not in use. During peak periods, the vehicles cruise the streets until ‘called’ by a passenger, just as in the case of the short-haul cab above. The individual vehicle then picks up the passenger, and the user also advises the drop-off point so that the control station can plan its next journey.

Driverless taxi

The cab is shared by up to four passengers to reduce costs and optimise use. It has large glass areas to give the passengers better visibility and a sense of security, while gull-wing doors aid entry and protect the interior from the weather. As there is no driver, the interior is designed so that passengers face one another around a central unit on which information about the city and route is projected.

Shopping ferry

This is a ferry service to be offered by a supermarket with the vehicle being commissioned or leased by the supermarket from the manufacturers. Out-of-town developments mean that more people rely on cars, to the detriment of older and disabled people. Background research for this vehicle demonstrated that most supermarket journeys are weekly and less than one trolley-load of goods per person is purchased. Regular transport to and from appropriate points, or following a route around housing areas could reduce road traffic and build customer loyalty.

Shopping ferry
Mike Leadbetter, Royal College of Art Vehicle Design

In Mike Leadbetter’s scenario, the bus would be owned and run by the supermarket and would be called or booked by the customer, who would be collected from a point near their home. The size of the bus is optimised to work within conventional city streets and carries ten passengers and their shopping to keep the journey and waiting times down. Luggage provision is under each seat, wheelchair access being by ramped entry aided by external wheels which allow the bus to kneel, and the bus is driven by hub motors in the wheel rims, saving valuable space. The driver will provide security and assistance as required.

Kyoto Tram

Kyoto is an historic city and the challenge here was to design a tram which suits a very wide user profile, including older and disabled people, mothers with children, and tourists, as well as commuters. The internal layout is spacious with groups of seats replacing conventional benches, providing flexible seating options for single passengers, couples and people with small children as well as extending the clear floor area to aid wheelchair access.

Kyoto Tram
non-threatening soft front to minimise accidental injury

To further aid access the tram has a low floor and large doors that open flush with the sides of the vehicle and the interior has built in grab handles.

Kyoto Tram
low floor and large flush opening doors for easy access,
and large glazed areas for visability

The tram features large glazed areas that offer visibility to seated passengers and those in wheelchairs, as well as to standing passengers. Information is presented graphically to the passengers on the internal window surfaces with LCD technology, while the exterior of the tram has a low ride height to appear non-threatening and a soft, smooth front to minimise accidental injury. At night lighting effects similar to those used on aircraft would enhance the ambience, security, and safety of the vehicle.

Conclusion

Until recently, older and disabled people were perceived as dependent and passive, with special needs that required special vehicles or adaptations to standard vehicles. Increasingly, this view is being replaced with a new focus on independent living and active participation as consumers and citizens. Traditional vehicle design and adaptation is out of phase with these developments, whereas ‘Mobility for All’ delivered through a mix of transportation services and new vehicle typologies is a more suitable approach, and in line with contemporary thinking on the shift from product to service and on environmental improvements like traffic-free zones. Since a taxi service, for example, can be delivered with different vehicles, there is greater potential for eliminating discrimination than in the design of a single vehicle.

There is scope for alliances between vehicle manufacturers and e.g. supermarkets in developing services which meet local mobility needs and raise the profile of the companies involved, and for services which bridge the important gap between home and public transport, or move people from one place of interest to another. There is also considerable scope for improving public transport with design for all solutions, and for using information technology to increase access to transport services.

Overall, the challenge is to move to a level of integration where vehicles and services work together to offer enhanced mobility to people of all ages and abilities. The practical challenge is to envisage and develop these new services and vehicles. This requires a mix of research into mobility needs, particularly those of older and disabled people, an understanding of future trends in planning and the design of public environments, and the interpretation of these as scenarios for new products and services. This work will be best advanced through collaborations between researchers, designers, manufacturers and service providers. This is an exciting time to be involved in transport design. Developments in technology enable greater synthesis between design disciplines, and customers are beginning to have a greater say in the end product. If we can have clothes designed to our own size and style why not planes, trains and automobiles, and why not the services that link these together in ways that enhance rather than degrade our environment and quality of life.

Further reading

A selection of books, articles and papers from the Helen Hamlyn database, a special collection on Design and Ageing at the Royal College of Art. Abstracts may be searched via the WWW at http://DesignAge.rca.ac.uk/DA/HHD.html

• Laslett, Peter A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of The Third Age Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1989
• Coleman, Roger A demographic overview of the ageing of First World populations, Applied Ergonomics 1993, 24(1), 58-62
• Sixsmith, J & A Older people, driving and new technology, Applied Ergonomics 1993, 24(1), 40-43
• Maycock, G The Safety of Older Car-drivers in the European Union AA Foundation for Road Safety Research for ERSF 1997
• European Working Group on Ageing & Technology (ETAN) The Ageing Population and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities 1997 (unpublished draft report)
• Yoxen, Edward Mobility and the Elderly: a UK View,Centre for Biomed. & Healthcare Technology Eindhoven TU, 1992
• Leeson G (ed) Travel and Culture: Access to Concessions by Older People in Europe, DaneAge for the European Commission, 1993
• Dept of Transport Ins and Outs of Car Choice: A Guide for elderly and disabled people
• Transport and Road Research Laboratory and Institute of Consumer Ergonomics Problems experienced by disabled and elderly people entering and leaving cars 1985
• More Mileage, Less Hassle Design Week, March 13 1992
• Oxley PR, Mitchell CGB, Cornwell M, Haslegrave CM, Roake PJ Vehicles for Disabled People IMechE Congress Seminar Papers: Seminar 39, 1991
• Warnes, AM Elderly People Driving Cars: Issues and Prospects (from Responding to an Ageing Society, Morgan K (ed)1992 )
• Sixsmith J, Rough B and Warnes A Factors in Elderly People’s Driving Abilities Kings College London and University of Groningen
• Vehicle Design: The European Rickshaw RCA 1994
• Transport for People with a Mobility Handicap (Procs. of European Transport and Planning 17th Summer Annual Meeting 1989)
• Motoring and the Older Driver AA Foundation for Road Safety Research 1988
• Coleman, Roger (ed) Transport and Vehicles for Our Future Selves (in Designing for Our Future Selves RCA 1994)
• Saunby, Carol & Matle, Calvin Assessment of Importance of Automotive Characteristics by Older and Younger Drivers Soc. of Automotive Engineers 1994
• Rabbitt P, Carmichael A, Jones S, Holland C When And Why Older Drivers Give Up Driving AA Foundation for Road Safety Research 1996
• Ability Car Guide RICA 1995
• Barham P, Oxley P and Shaw T Accessible Public Transport Infrastructure: Guidelines for the Design of Interchanges, Terminals and Stops Dept of Transport 1994.

Read the first part of this article

Dale Harrow is a graduate of Coventry University and is a well-known automotive and industrial designer. He has been active as a design consultant and has collaborated with many automotive and design companies including Seymour Powell, Pentagram, Yamaha, Honda, Sony and Tefal. The Norton Sportsbike won Designweek “Design of the year 1989” and in 1999 the London Taxi designed in collaboration with Pentagram was selected as a “Millennium Product.”

Dale is committed to design education and has been at the Royal College of Art since 1999. He became Head of the Vehicle Design Department in 1999. He has also taught at Cardiff University and has acted as External Examiner to a number of industrial design and vehicle design degree courses including Sheffield, Huddersfield, and Northampton Universities. Currently he is lead examiner at Central St Martins’ post-graduate Industrial Design course.

Dale’s approach to teaching reflects his belief that the discipline is complex and moving forward and new designers have to be better informed to meet future challenges. He is keen to explore the changing city, technology and new commercial opportunities to develop new design solutions within an established design culture.

Dale is keen to raise the intellectual debate about vehicle design and has lectured internationally on the subject including the RSA. He has led workshops at the Design Museum and has also acted as a judge at international events and competitions. He is frequently interviewed by the media and regularly acts as a commentator.

He is currently researching the origins and history of automotive design.

Roger Coleman is Professor of Inclusive Design and Co-Director of the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the the Royal College of Art, and an internationally renowned authority on the design effects of ageing populations. The HHRC builds on the DesignAge programme, which Coleman has directed since 1991. In 1994 he established a European network specialising in design and ageing, and in 1995 the RCA was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of his work.

Roger Coleman was the recipient of a Ron Mace Universal Design Award in 2000, and a Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education in 2001. His policy paper ‘Living Longer: the new context for design’ (Design Council 2001), which makes recommendations to government and industry on design responses to population ageing, is one of several key publications. He also advises major companies on the implementation of inclusive design at a strategic level.

Trained in fine art, design history and philosophy at Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art, Roger Coleman was closely involved in the establishment of the Greater London Council’s Technology Networks in the 1980s and ran his own r&d consultancy, London Innovation. He has lectured extensively in the UK and overseas, and his writings on art, craft and design have been widely translated into other languages, including Japanese and Hebrew.

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