LATIS: Localised Automated Transit Information System

How do we learn from nature to move towards sustainable growth and development?

Introduction

What is Biomimicry Design?

Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve real-world problems.

Our Objectives

To design a socially conscious, inclusive design intervention that promotes sustainability and helps attain one or more of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals given by the United Nations, keeping nature as our blueprint.

Using the biomimicry design process, we created a new transportation communication system to help New Delhi commuters track and plan their trips across the large metropolis. To create this new mobile application, we took inspiration from the decentralised communication network used by Red Ants to learn more about this project. Please continue to read this article.

The Team

• Debaditya Sekhar Jena (Researcher and UI/UX Designer)
• Abhishek Singh (Researcher and User Researcher)
• Ishika Goswami (UI/UX Designer)

The Design Process

For this project, the design team followed the biomimicry design spiral, which mirrors the design thinking process. There are six phases of the biomimicry design spiral:

1. Define
2. Biologise
3. Discover
4. Abstract
5. Emulate
6. Evaluate

Biomimicry Design Spiral

Initial Problem Framing

Based on initial research about human settlement management in India and the condition of public transportation in Indian cities, we created an initial challenge and How Might We statement to direct our research efforts.

Initial Challenge

Due to hyper-urbanisation, the urban population's mobility requirements have increased dramatically, leading to a rise in transit requirements. This leads to a significant portion of one’s day spent travelling, which sometimes requires multiple modes of transportation. Many cities like Delhi face problems due to poor coordination among public transport facilities.

Initial How Might We statement

How might we use public transportation to connect the existing urban infrastructure, creating a system that reduces travel time and resource usage and achieves sustainable development of transportation systems and, consequently, sustainable development of cities?

After completing the research, we decided to revisit and redefine the initial problem statement based on the user insights we identified.

Research

Desk Research

The following are some key points from our desk research about New Delhi:

1. Delhi has one of the largest road networks in India, covering 21% of the area. The rising population in Delhi and the attractiveness of owning private vehicles are spurring disinterest in public transport.
2. The capital of India, New Delhi, has been experiencing one of the fastest urban expansions in the world.
3. Vast areas of croplands and grasslands are being turned into streets, buildings, and parking lots, attracting an unprecedented amount of new residents.
4. Sprawling cities can have several environmental consequences, such as increasing traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollution.
5. Most people in Delhi lose nearly 42 crore person-hours monthly while commuting between home and office through public transport.
6. Individuals commuting using public transport also face problems, including poor connectivity of intermodal transit routes, which can cause unprecedented delays.

Graph representing travel for youth commuting in Delhi

The following are some key points from our desk research about Delhi Metro:

1. There are long transfer points between line changes, for example, between the Dhaula Kuan Airport Express and the Delhi Metro Pink line.
2. Crowd management during peak hours is still a challenge for DMRC officials.
3. Despite special fibre cables and antennas on Metro pillars, mobile connectivity remains a pain. It is worse when you’re underground.

Opinions about improvement in bus transportation services in Delhi

The following are some key points from our desk research about Delhi Bus Service:

1. Competition among different bus operators
2. The presence of multiple bus operators with no coordinating authority
3. The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), commissioned in 2008, was taken down because it failed to decrease traffic congestion.

Primary Research

The project team mainly used user interviews and user survey research methodologies for primary research. The user survey was conducted using Google Forms, whereas the interviews were conducted via telephone and followed a semi-structured format.

Below are the results of the user survey and the quantitative data analysis.

Survey responses and quantitative data analysis

For qualitative data analysis, 10 User interviews were conducted with senior citizens, daily passengers and youngsters who travelled daily during and before the pandemic. These conversations help us understand their difficulties and feelings and solve their problems at every commute stage. Below are a few excerpts from the interview transcripts:

1. “DTC Public Buses are highly irregular in their timings. Many Buses ply together and don’t stop at designated bus stops.”
2. “There is no way of knowing which buses ply on which routes. I only got the idea after months of continuous travel.”
3. “Buses and Metro get so crowded that I have to skip them to find one that is comfortable to travel.”
4. “I always feel that people do not have public manners when they travel in crowded metros and buses.”
5. “Ticketing and finding a place close to the exit is like a fight; I have to win every time I travel in buses.”
6. “I do not feel safe travelling in buses due to pickpocketing and snatching. There have been cases where I felt threatened by people.”
7. “I have been late to my Office often because the metro is very slow, and it takes a lot of time to de-board from a crowded metro.”
8. “Finding a seat to sit in a crowded blue line metro, even during pandemic times, was difficult.”
9. “Many times, I am clueless about which metro line should I pick when my current route is inoperable.”
10. “There is currently no way that senior citizens can travel with ease and additional privilege in an overly crowded metro system.”
11. “As a woman, I feel very insecure when travelling in overcrowded metros due to possible lurid behaviour of fellow passengers.”

Define

Based on the desk and primary research, the research synthesis process mainly focused on developing unique customer journey maps. Stories were used to inform actionable insights, helping the project team redefine the problem area and create a new How Might We statement that reflected the user's needs.

Customer Journey Maps

Based on the research synthesis, two customer journey maps were created, highlighting key actions, time taken and problems commuters face when using public transportation in New Delhi.

These customer journey maps are:

1. Students travelling across Delhi using the Metro.
2. Office-goer taking the bus in Delhi.

Customer Journey Maps

User Stories

Based on the customer journey maps, we created several user stories to highlight and empathise with different user groups who regularly use/interact with the public transportation system in Delhi. Below is a series of user stories that will help you empathise with different types of commuters:

1. Regular Public Transport passenger
2. Occasional Public Transport passenger
3. Passengers who have left Public Transport
4. Occasional Public Transport passengers
5. Everyday private car user
6. Not proficient in using technology
7. Underage and minor passengers travelling every day

User Insights

Based on the user research synthesis, we have identified the following insights:

1. Commuters want to receive well-planned dynamic routes for public transportation based on local transit information.
2. Commuters enjoy a personalised experience with organised real-time information provided on their devices.
3. Commuters need to feel a deeper connection with public transportation for long-term engagement.
4. Commuters want to explore and learn more about the city they live in with a sustainable integrated transit system.
5. Commuters want easily understood information delivered to their devices so they can travel to their destinations safely.
6. Commuters want to enjoy personal security and save on expenses as they travel across the city.
7. Commuters want the freedom and self-respect each passenger deserves while using public transportation in Delhi.

Problem Identification

Following the research synthesis, we created a list of problems we identified during our desk and primary research. Below, you can see the issues we identified and the ones we focus on.

How Might We?

Based on our prior research and our choice of tackling information access, we decided to take time/delays as our main problem since it is most relevant to the issues faced by people using public transportation in Delhi NCR.

Hence, we redefined our How Might We statement:

How might we create a communication system to circulate information about transit itineraries?

Transforming to Biomimicry Design

Following our research and synthesis, the next step in the design process was transforming our How Might We statement into biomimicry design statements. By transforming human problems into biological terminologies, we can start finding solutions and inspirations in the natural environment.

Biologise

We analysed the essential functions and context for our problem statement and reframed it into the following biological terms:

1. How does nature circulate information between species?
2. How does nature take time-driven decisions for maintaining a balanced ecosystem?
3. How does nature enhance the exchange of information in an ecosystem?

Discovering Nature

Next, we looked for natural models (organisms and ecosystems) analogous to the life functions and natural contexts that our design solution needs to address.

Ant colonies distribute food effectively and safely after famine using a decentralised response to spread food quickly.

Red harvester ant colonies speed information flow by varying levels of connectivity.

Creating Design Strategy

This step required us to rewrite the biological strategy without relying on biological terms.

Decentralised communication between individuals in a cluster increases the resiliency and efficiency of a system under strain through feedback loops by responding to prompts from the local environment and other individuals.

The efficient and directional flow of information between individuals within the same cluster depends upon the frequency and success of interaction through sensors and feedback loops.

Emulate/Ideate

The team got together and ideated on our problem to develop innovative solutions; the ideation process was conducted based on the design strategies abstracted from the biological strategy identified in the discovery phase.

Emulation and Ideation

Final Solution

LATIS stands for Localised Automated Transport for Information Sharing. Our system combines Delhi’s existing transportation infrastructure through a highly effective nexus of “nodes,” which gather information and integrate it with various public transportation.

The LATIS Network employs decentralised Master Nodes and Slave Nodes; all nodes work synchronised, securely collecting data and catering to individual users' personalised transit information.

How does LATIS work?

LATIS aims to combine Delhi's metro and bus systems to form a consolidated system with connections between every possible transport point.

“Nodes” in our system refer to major transportation points across all transit routes in the city. These nodes collect local information about the area under each node. This localised information is processed and shared with users to facilitate smooth and sound-informed transit.

Nodes collect the following data:

• Frequency of buses and metros.
• Crowds at bus stops and metro stations.
• Waiting time at metro stations and bus stops.
• Transfer time across different public transportation.
• Identify the clustering of buses near the node.
• Gather information for the most efficient travel routes.

The following map is a representation of the LATIS Decentralised Bus Information network. Each bus communicates with at least one nearest major node, and an intermediary connection is created when the bus reaches the vicinity of any other major node.

The following map represents the LATIS Decentralised Metro Information network; every node collects user data and predicts and relays information to users on the metro. Metro stations with multiple metro changes are master nodes that collect, process and share most data.

The following map represents inter-directional communication; bus and metro nodes are constantly connected, creating a “bubble” of data sharing. This communication helps ease the load on both transport networks and provides the user with real-time and accurate information that is best for the User’s Journey.

Design Language

Information Architecture

Wire Framing

UI Design and Mockups

Below is the user interface design for the mobile application. We followed the material design system during our UI design process. The application can help you find places to visit, discover new ways to travel timetables, receive new and updated travel schedules, access emergency services, law enforcement, etc.