Public Transit of the Future: Enhancing Well-Being through Designing Human-centered Public Transportation Spaces

TL;DR

This study investigates how different design features of public transportation cabins affect user well-being and perceptions, highlighting that functional amenities and biophilic elements improve user experience, while low maintenance has negative effects.

Contribution

The paper provides empirical evidence on how specific design modifications impact well-being and perception metrics in public transit spaces, emphasizing human-centered design.

Findings

Functional amenities and biophilic design improve well-being and perception.

Low maintenance negatively affects user well-being.

Design enhancements can promote public transportation adoption.

Abstract

Studies show that psychological effects are among one of the top concerns for public transportation users. While many Americans spend a significant portion of their time in public transportation spaces, the impact of the design and maintenance of these spaces on user well-being has not been fully studied. In this study, we conducted a survey to better understand the effect of implementing different designs on people's well-being and perceptual metrics (N=304). Participants were presented with six images depicting different cabin configurations, including (1) the current version of the cabin space, (2) a low-maintenance version, (3) an aesthetically enhanced version, (4) a bike rack-enabled version, (5) a version with an added workspace, and (6) an improved version with biophilic design. After viewing each image, participants' well-being metrics (e.g., stress, and emotion) and their public transportation perception metrics (e.g., perceptions of safety, and reasonable cost) were evaluated. Our results from linear mixed-effect modeling indicated that adding functional amenities and biophilic design elements led to an overall enhancement in well-being and perceptual metrics. Conversely, low maintenance worsened all measured well-being. This research lays the ground for developing human-centered public transportation spaces that can lead to an increase in public transportation adoption.