Ecological Vehicle (Transport) System for Bucharest

ABOUT THE TOPIC

Main Issue to Solve:

Traffic in Bucharest is very busy at almost any hour of the day. Owning a personal car is not always an advantage
because of the lack of parking spaces, too many cars for the roads capacity, long time to get from A to B, stress
of driving, etc.

In the same time public transport is also not always a viable alternative (Underground not available in all areas,
overcrowded buses or trams, no special faster lanes dedicated to public vehicles, etc)

People are not ready to think of / adopt a new attitude tovards their own behaviour regarding transport. Mentalities
seem to block any possible changement.

Challenge:

How to find an ecological solution that eases up the traffic in Bucharest and in the same time offer users a
practical and comfortable transportation alternative.

How to make people aware of their own abilities / power to make a change.

Ideas for dedicated systems / vehicles can fit into the categories:
- Rent-a-car or Car-sharing (similar to “Velo Lib” bicycle programs in France or „Stattauto“ in Germany)
- Temporary car owning (but not the traditional leasing)
- Network for electrical vehicles – ways of rent / use / charge them
- Considering / understandig Bucharest districts as areas with specific transport needs and proposing
systems for each zone
- Starting from urbanism to develop projects as determined by thr global features of the town (exemples of
derived projects: object projects, communication projects, infrastructure projects, facilities projects, PR
projects)
- Any other possible future scenarios

AREAS OF FOCUS FOR THE PROJECT

Strategic Vision and Design of the Service (applicable to all students from all tracks)
• Define the “big vision” of the entire system
• Define the systematic and use-cases

Industrial Design
• Vehicle - Exterior design and urban integration
• Vehicle - Interior design, ideas for practical scenarios of use

Communication Design

• Identity and communication strategy of the entire project

• Brand Identity and Visual elements of the service (ex: Logos, posters, etc)
• Digital User Interfaces for accessing and using the service (ex: smart-phones apps, website portals, on-
site Kiosks display, In-car Interfaces, etc)
• Documentation and PR Promotions of the actual student projects (ex: Public Blog with documenting the
steps of the project or collecting feedback, movies of presentations and discussions, etc)

Ambient Design
• Urban elements related to the system (ex: Pick-up stations, charging “pumps”, etc)
• Urban structures dedicated to ecological new transport

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KEY ASPECTS TO CONSIDER
Not just the vehicle – but also a smart service behind!
It’s not about designing just a “cool” car but also at defining a system and a service that make sense

Be inspired by real problems in Bucharest

Many big cities share similar characteristics but for this project it’s good to look specifically at the problems and
opportunities of Bucharest. What are the transportation needs, issues of people from Bucharest?

How to get the best publicity/PR for the results?

Any ideas that will generate most publicity or public visibility for the solutions are more than welcomed. Can we
involve the public or press somehow? Or the local authorities? Can we actually make a change that will affect
direct the life of Bucharest inhabitants in the future? Could a team of students actually make this into a project?

STEPS
Research
• Needs and benefits of individual transport (comfort, safety, etc)
• Define the potential users
• Interview Real Users and identify Issues and Opportunities
• Streams of people/cars and patterns of traffic, main access roads, etc (weekday or weekends, etc.)
• Plans or future developments from the official institutions that could be of help (ex: Primarie, Ministerul
Transporturilor, Ministerul Dezvoltarii Regionale si Turismului, etc)
• Look at existing similar solutions in other cities/countries (ex: best practices)
• Material and technology research
• Eco solutions (technical, logistics, services, etc)
• Define the “Big Vision”, what is the essence of the system?
• Split into groups with different detailed topics /products based on the “Big Vision”

Directions for the first phase of research to give the students a framework of how to approach such a
complex topic. For example, there could be a few main areas, each team could pick one or two and go in
detail with it:

1. Types of transport in the city (advantage and disadvantages comparison)

2. Main reasons to travel in the city, statistics (types of users, needs, etc)
3. Real User Observations and Questionnaires
4. Bucharest specific information (traffic flow, bottlenecks, etc)
5. Best Practices (ideas from all around the world)

At the end, all the results from research should come together in a presentation.
And from there, students could each select a more defined topic

End of semester, January: a rough scenario of what the new solution/s could be like.

Ideation
• Explore possible future Use-Cases
• Early ideas for Products, Services, Communication, Ambient
• Early Prototyping and Testing with Users – to validate scenarios or ideas

Refinement and Final Presentation

• Elaborating One concept in all its subtopics (Products, Services, Communication, Ambient)
• Prototypes or Mockups
• Final Presentation (3d renderings, movies, animations, etc)

Promotion and PR of the projects (make the most out of it!) – during all the time the project goes on
• Create a plan that will best promote the project to the public, media, etc.
• Record the design process and the evolution of the ideas, document the entire process during the
project.
• Manage and spread the final results (blogs, websites, etc.)

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ABOUT RESPONSABILITIES
Depending on the results of the Research phase and what exact topics each team will chose, the partners can
chose to be involved more into specific projects (example if it’s a vehicle Dacia will guide it through more actively,
if it’s a product or service Pilotfish will get more involved)
Dacia
TBD – (by Stephan)
• Car formats, exterior and interior design
• Use cases, user scenarios and implications on design

Pilotfish
• Service and general experience related to the idea/service proposed (with their implications to Product
and Communication Design)
• Possible Auto Interior Design / Product Design related objects.

University of Arts
TBD – (by Radu, Mihnea, Marina)
• Guide students through all phases of the project and ensure the deadlines and deliverables
• Arrange the meetings/conf. calls with all the participants
• Detailed feedback for students on Product, Communication, Ambient Design
• Organize and guide the PR of the entire project

What to show at the end of semester 1 – each team

• A slide swow presenting the chosen subject and the conclusion oof the research (Power Point, PDF, jpg,
etc.)
• A research file (photos, information from personal investigation, statistics, interviews, comentaries, etc.)
• 1 – 2 printed presentations (50x70 cm or 70x100 cm) showing in brief the idea of the project