Bad Designs
(No, that title is not related to me planning anything.)
This is something that I've noticed now and then over the past few years but which has come to the fore recently: the design of wheel wells on Toronto Transit buses contributes to the increase of commute time.
The interior covering of the wheel wells on most buses currently in service are flat on top and 'caged' with tube-like hand-holds. They are located just inside the bus entrance and a bit behind the driver. When the bus starts to fill up and people are required to stand, these structures become prime real estate for placing shopping bags and backpacks. With people standing there, guarding their items, it becomes difficult for new people getting on to pass them and use up the space further back in the bus. Drivers have pretty much accepted that asking people to move back is a waste of breath. They see that the area around them is packed and avoid stopping to pick up anyone else in their two-thirds full bus.
Partly the problem is human selfishness and laziness but, if the wheel well covers had been round or pointed or smoothly formed into the bus wall, they wouldn't have provided the same temptation...and I'd have been at work fifteen minutes earlier this morning. :)
This is something that I've noticed now and then over the past few years but which has come to the fore recently: the design of wheel wells on Toronto Transit buses contributes to the increase of commute time.
The interior covering of the wheel wells on most buses currently in service are flat on top and 'caged' with tube-like hand-holds. They are located just inside the bus entrance and a bit behind the driver. When the bus starts to fill up and people are required to stand, these structures become prime real estate for placing shopping bags and backpacks. With people standing there, guarding their items, it becomes difficult for new people getting on to pass them and use up the space further back in the bus. Drivers have pretty much accepted that asking people to move back is a waste of breath. They see that the area around them is packed and avoid stopping to pick up anyone else in their two-thirds full bus.
Partly the problem is human selfishness and laziness but, if the wheel well covers had been round or pointed or smoothly formed into the bus wall, they wouldn't have provided the same temptation...and I'd have been at work fifteen minutes earlier this morning. :)