From anti-viral interiors to smartphone request stops, the electric Arrival bus could be the future of public transport. Olivia Palamountain reports
This zero-emissions bus from British electric vehicle designer Arrival has been created to make bus travel appealing, sustainable and financially viable in the age of contagion.
For germaphobic passengers, the Arrival bus features motion-sensitive zero-touch bells and smooth cantilevered seating that can be reconfigured to suit demand.
“The configurable seating means that operators can change the configuration overnight at the depot to increase or decrease the number to meet demand or government directives on capacity levels, for example during times like the recent pandemic,” Arrival spokesperson Victoria Tomlinson told Dezeen.
Moulded interior surfaces are seam-free to avoid dirt traps and make the vehicle easy to clean, while natural light floods the bus thanks to extra large windows and a full-length sun roof.
Designed to evoke a sense of space and wellbeing, this theme is continued through the use of indoor and outdoor screens that share key information on seating availability and route congestion.
Passengers can access this information remotely and request a bus to stop via their smartphones before they leave home.
The Arrival Bus is ready to go into production and will be made in one of Arrival’s new “microfactories” that use low-footprint technology to enable the production of highly customised vehicles. Arrival plans to deploy 1,000 microfactories globally by 2026.
With an eye on the entire ecosystem around its vehicles, Arrival is working in partnership with businesses to develop the shared goal of making public transport appealing whilst achieving carbon neutrality.
Kwame Nyanning, chief of experience at Arrival, says: “Arrival’s core focus is to make your every-day experience radically better, whether that is your daily journey on an Arrival bus, or through your work as a driver delivering parcels from an Arrival Van.
“We are working with cities to make every touchpoint within the urban transportation ecosystem not only better, but also more equitable and sustainable. Recent events have made it clear the world needs to take action now in order to improve lives and effect real change.”
Over in Hong Kong, Andrea Ponti has come up with a revolutionary design for the double-decker, driverless Island tram with interiors configured for social distancing.
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