Hobart Smarter Bus Stop and Shelter Competition

Design for a modular bus stop and shelter that promotes connection, reducing waiting anxiety and enhancing the overall travel experience.

Cascade street site with urban twin totems and full digital experience

Bus travel can sometimes suffer from a less optimal image compared with other modes of transport. Many of the issues that emerge from poor passenger experience can be mitigated by improved connectivity and experience at the places that patrons first engage with the service, such as at the bus stops.

A/ Prof Selby Coxon

Shortlisted in the last 5 from 120 entries in the Hobart City Council Design Competition.

This proposal connects a modular and adaptable architecture with an information rich inclusive passenger experience. Leveraging a smart phone platform, patrons connect with individual stops to both receive and add, if desired authenticated information to a central display. This concept directly responds to passenger anxieties, such as a sense of control, confidence, and personal security as well as the potential to engage with local community information throughout the bus route.

The assemblage of components emerges from a central ‘smart’ column which contains the ‘intelligence’ of the shelter and battery housing, charged by solar panels located on the overhead canopy. A welcoming wrap around seat and weather shield is able to detect to the presence of people as they approach the shelter.

The modules can be configured to suit particular locations both in complexity and localised design requirements. Installation is devoid of all but minor groundworks, utilising a combination of sustainable pre-cast ‘e-crete’ blocks with sustainably sourced timber weather shield surrounds. This approach enables easy technical access for maintenance and upgrades as well as low cost fabrication utilising proven technology.

The form language lends itself to the addition of other amenities such as planter boxes and bicycle rack features amongst others.

Our design approach

  • User centred with focus on enriched experience
  • Quality seating, lighting, signage and shelter.
  • Enhances a hyper-aware digital integration andconnectivity.
  • Is modular, expandable and adaptable.
  • Is low maintenance with a good sustainable life cycle.
  • Resilient in the face of vandalism.
  • Enhances a sense of personal security and wellbeing.
  • Accessible to the breadth, needs and abilities of the community.
  • Creates a distinctive addition to the Hobart landscape.

Learn more

Fly-through of the range

The concept is designed to accommodate a variety of configurations, including a kiosk and other small commercial activity. This short video illustrates how the shelter concept can adapt to a variety of sites and arrangements.

Low fidelity mock-up

Testing the geometry of the shelter design with a 1:1 scale mockup built in our Oakleigh, VIC workshop.

Range overview

Modular, expandable and adaptable

Base unit single totem for constrained spaces

Sandy Bay Road

Outer suburban single totem

Urban twin totems / full digital

Cascade street site

Two totems with all-round weather shields

All glazed version

App prototype

App prototype

Signage prototype

Signage prototype