The role of industrial design in addressing the disparity between user perceptions of public and private transport

Abstract

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. 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, 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