The role of Industrial Design in addressing the disparity between user perceptions of public and private transport. 30 th Australasian Transport Research Forum Page 1 The Role of Industrial Design in Addressing the Disparity between User Perceptions of Public and Private Transport. Selby Coxon 1 , Robbie Napper 1 , Jonathon Allen 1 1 Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1 Introduction This paper examines the disparity between the perceptions of private and public transport from those who might exercise choice between them. There is a great body of literature concerning the identification of problems in public transport mobility e.g. Sorenson 1968 to Bunting 2004 to In this study the authors’ have focused upon the emotional aspects of human needs as they are expressed in aesthetics, materiality and environmental functionality. These qualities have been long understood by the automotive industry in the development and marketing of their products. While the authors’ acknowledge that these psychological and design factors are not completely unknown to the public transport industry (Novaco 2001 Veeneman 2002), they are largely inadequately considered compared to the automotive industry. The effect upon public transport is that it struggles to deliver a quality alternative to the car on routes or situations in which it could be seen as competitive. The right to mobility is considered an important part of social inclusion (Wickham 2004). Within this context the private car remains, despite many negative issues, the pinnacle manifestation of this civil liberty. The layout and road network of modern cities presume a wide private vehicular enfranchisement (Wickham 2004). Private cars are seen as convenient for carrying people and articles. Cars are non-timetable dependent, embodying personal separation from those who might threaten them. Cars are accessible to a variation of leisure and work experiences, and importantly can contribute to the formation of a self- image through brand recognition (Baslington 2006). Popular culture, especially television advertising, reinforces these images depicting cars as functional and desirable but above all enjoying the freedom of uninterrupted open roads. In reality high levels of private car ownership, particularly in urban environments, has led to road congestion, increased carbon emissions with corresponding impacts upon health, noise, accident related costs, maintenance costs, fuel costs, and parking restrictions (Cedar 1997) Conversely, positive impressions of public transport modalities have been discounted by negative suggestions such as limitations in carrying articles, containment to timetables, limited destinations, risk of anti-social behaviour, reflection upon personal self esteem and the removal from an inclusive mobile society (Cedar 1997 and Edwards 1992). Parallels between the design of cars and the design of public transport vehicles have been made before (Tehan 1975), however due to commercial confidentiality there appears to be a paucity of academic literature developing this theme. There is, however, a growing body of research that equates human emotional responses to products with their usability (Jordan et al). Usability has often been treated separately from aesthetics. The form follows function doctrine has relegated the aesthetic in Industrial Design to a by-product of the object’s efficacy. Automotive design creates a milieu of functional, aesthetic and haptic experiences that contribute to the pleasure of driving or travelling by car. For a passenger on public transport much of these pleasures of interaction are lost. While there maybe little opportunity to replicate a private car in public transport, the authors’ contend that the latest developments in usability and interaction design could be applied to the public transport experience. The authors’ suggest that there is an opportunity to develop this area of Industrial Design research in order that effective strategies might be created to improve the current passenger perception of public transport usability (Norman 2004).