Morrow _ Public Transportation Exploration

D6100, Fall Semester 2014 - Student Led Event - Josh Morrow

An Ideal Transportation System in Columbus



Table of Contents

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Project Introduction and Objective

Pertinent Background Information

Process and Methodology Overview

Process and Methodology Phase One: Study Assignment

Phase Two: Experience Mapping - Darwin - Vel - David - Danielle - Laura

Phase Three: Co-creation of an Ideal transportation service

Data Analysis

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Analysis Results

Conclusion

Reflections on the Project



Project Introduction and Objective

I chose the topic of “An Ideal Transportation System in Columbus, OH” as my student led event primarily because I am interested in the design and development of services for the public sector, but also because I feel that Columbus is a very good example of an average sized city that has experienced the advent of urban sprawl. With factors such as the increase in travel and living expenses by comparison to earned income, the trend in people returning from the suburbs to the city centers just as many public transportation services have diminished or been terminated and an ever growing need for alternative energy and transportation sources, I am interested in how Columbus and cities/municipalities like it can address these pressing issues. Through this project I hoped to discover and explore some theories of what could be improvements for the city as well as to gain additional experience in facilitating participatory research sessions and experience in facilitatingco-creation sessions.



Pertinent Background Information

In addition to my time spent in Columbus, OH, much of the background for this project comes from personal experiences in cities across the United States such as Manhattan, Los Angeles, Portland, OR, Chicago, as well as cities in other countries such as Frankfurt, Germany and Seoul, South Korea. All of those cities have systems that are widely accepted to be much better and more efficient systems of transportation (public andprivate) than Columbus In the case of Manhattan, it getsroutinely ranked nationally at the top of the list as having the best and most efficient transportation systems in the US and one of the best systems globally.

Sources:

Fast Co-Exist. “The cities with the best public transportation in the U.S.” http://www.fastcoexist.com/3025623/the-cities-with-the-best-public-transpor-tation-in-the-us

CNN Travel. “What are the world’s best metro systems?”http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/10-best-metro-systems-746919



Process and Methodology: overview

To begin this project I first explored topics based on my interests and considered who was in the class that would be participating in the event and how much I thought that they might be able to contribute based on their known current and passedexperiences. This was a consideration in choosing the topic due to the fact that I was interested in as much diverse andvaried experience experiences as was possible for my topic. Based on those factors I sought verbal feedback from myprofessor, Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders, Ph.D., who helped mefinalize the project focus down to transportation experiences in and around Columbus with a second layer of participantco-designing of an “ideal” transportation system or service. After the topic had been chosen, it was decided that it made the most sense to break the group participation in to three phasesconsisting of an individual homework phase, an individualexperience mapping phase to be done in class and aco-creative, group phase, done in class immediately after the experience mapping phase.



Process and Methodology: phase onestudy assignment

The homework phase consisted of a study assignment that was a PDF slide presentation, emailed to the participants two days before hand and consisting of two types of “mapping” examples. The first example was the mapping of experiences or “journeys” and consisted of a definition of what it is and examples of maps with various levels of complexity. Before moving on to the next mapping example the participants where prompted with the statement that experience mapping can be used as a research tool in many different applications but that it has recently found a valued home as a process used in the design of services. The next series of slides consisted of a definition of what servicedesign is and examples of various service maps, just as had been done with the section on experience mapping. The final slide in the study assignment asked the participants to pay at-tention to how they traveled around in their daily activities. What was their day like? What were some of the services that they used, if any? How did they get from home to school, from home to the grocery store or to dinner with their friends? The plan was to have them think about what a “typical experience” was for them, what they liked, what they didn’t like and becognizant of those experiences over the next couple of days leading up to the group event.

Example of experience mapping

Source: www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/the-anatomy-of-an-experience-map/

Example of service mapping

Source: www.makinguse.com/tdx/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/system_map.png



Process and Methodology: phase twopersonal experience mapping

The second phase of the project was on the day of the event during the normal class period starting at 5pm. When theparticipants arrived they were organized around a group oftables so that they where all facing in towards the center. Each of them was then presented with a make tool consisting of a large, blank piece of paper, scissors, glue sticks, purposefullyselected images and silhouette paper cutouts and shapes that all represented expressions, actions or things, in addition to round sticky notes and markers. The participants were then asked to utilize the make tools to map out there typical daily experience as they travel from “home to campus to home” and were given approximately twenty-five minutes to do so. After the prescribed time had elapsed, all of the participants were asked to tape their experience maps to the blank wall space that was available and in turn, each of them narrated the group through what they had created. The purpose of this sharing exercise was to have each individual verbally talk through and explain their experience, helping to create empathy among all of the group members for the third phase of the event. The time frame for this phase of the event was approximately twenty-five minutes.



Process and Methodology: phase twosharing of “home to campus to home” experiences

“I walk from home to the bus stop and most of the places I walk, they don’t have sidewalks.”

- Darwin First year Design Research and Development, MFA candidate. Originally from Indonesia, has lived in the U.S. for over ten years




“You see some weird stuff... very strange people are on the bus...”

“Glad I don’t have to drive though... It’s faster to take the bus.”

- Vel First year Design Research and Development, MFA candidate. From the U.S., has lived in many cities across the country.




“Columbus is the first city that I’ve lived in that I feel I actually need to own a car.”

- David First year Design Research and Development, MFA candidate. Originally from Scotland, taught English for three years in Korea.




“Because I’m usually rushing I drive more frequently... its faster than the bus.”

“[Buses] kinda become this, yucky place...”

- Danielle MBA student From the U.S., relocated to Columbus a few years ago from Brooklyn, NY




“There’s two really big lanes for cars, if they redesigned the street they could easily have a bike lane.”

- Laura First year Design Research and Development, MFA candidate. Originally from Columbia, has lived in the U.S. for almost ten years



Process and Methodology: phase threeco-creation of an ideal transportation service map

Having just shared each of their individual experience maps for how they got “from home to campus to home” the participants where then asked to come together as a group and map out an “ideal” transportation system or system of services forColumbus. They were given a large white sheet of paper taped to the wall to map out there ideas and were free to use as much of the previous toolkit supplies, markers and glue sticks as they felt necessary. Of note is that the participants took advantage of an unplanned, but available, white-board and dry erase markers to make initial notes and collectively brainstorm beforebeginning the mapping process.



Process and Methodology: phase threeco-creation of an ideal transportation service map

After approximately twenty-five minutes the group was wrapping up the mapping session and it was growing close to the end of the class period (7pm). Although photo and videodocumentation had been ongoing throughout the whole of the second and third phases, the participants were asked if they had any additional comments or thoughts that they would like to share in regards to what would be “ideal” for a transportation system or system of services in and around Columbus.

Once the participants had completed their comments they were thanked for their time and after they had left the room all of the artifacts that they had generated were gathered for latteranalysis.



Data Analysis

To document the data generated from this project photos andaudio/video files were captured for later analysis as well asparticipant created artifacts in the form of individual experience maps and a group generated service map. To analyze the data, all of the audio/video files where carefully reviewed to pull out key quotes and positive as well as negative data points. This process began first with the personal “home to campus to home” experiences that the participants had mapped out and shared with the group and after those files hadcarefully been gone through the same method of analysis was applied to the video file of the co-created service map. The participant generated maps were also reviewed on their own to gather any insights that may not have been captured verbally in the video.

Some additional research was needed after analysis of thevideos though, and this was done to gain a better understanding of some of the transportation services mentioned such asWashington, DC’s “slug lines” and Berlin’s U-Bahn andS-Bahn systems.



Analysis ResultsKey findings based on analysis of the data

- Being “green” is a concern for some people in Columbus

- Columbus makes people who move here feel as though they “need to own a car” because of the lack of other transportation options and how spread out it is

- Columbus is not set up in a way that currently facilitatesalternative forms of transportation

- Columbus is not a very bike friendly community. There are no good bike lanes or other systems to facilitate the use of bikes on main roads

- There are often no sidewalks where they are needed toenable people to safely walk from one location to the other

- Even with “weird stuff” factors, people are often glad to take the bus in order to save money and sometimes time

- For some people buses take much longer than if they drive or take a taxi

- People don’t like to wait for the bus

- People like to have multiple options for how the get around

- People would like to have a trolley, train, tram, or subwaysystem in Columbus

- People feel as though they can’t take the bus if they are in a hurry

- Sometimes people will drive short distances to “park and rides” because of concern for safety on return home, especially at night due to an insufficient amount of lighting or sidewalks

- Sometimes, if people use the public transportation system they have to take extra steps due to the fact that the system doesn’t completely facilitate their needs

- Public transportation is a “marginalized” way of getting around in Columbus. People often ride the bus because they can’t afford to have any other way to get around

- People in Columbus are used to the convenience of their cars and have no incentive to use public or alternative forms oftransportation



Conclusion

Transportation systems and services for Columbus, OH arecurrently made up of several different “layers” of options which consist of: the public bus transportation system (Columbus has no other form of public transit), personally owned vehicles (POVs) which make up the primary means to which people get around, taxis or some other sort of privately ownedtransportation service, the recently arrived “Car2Go”subscription based ride sharing service, and alternatives such as biking or walking. Based on the group’s co-created service map, this layered system of transportation is the desiredconcept of public and private options, but while the currentlayers of services offer some of what the participants in the group speak of as an “ideal” transportation system for the city and the area, there are some points of opportunity that can be addressed.

Those points are:

- Lack or inefficiency of networked and interconnected layers in the transit system

- Poor quality, timeliness and availability of it’s public transit system

- Lack of alternative options as convenient as POVs

All of the points listed are actually quite intrinsic to each other and in many ways point to two issues: the one dimensional layer of public transit in Columbus which, in turn, influences the next issue which is the dependence and preference of personally owned vehicles. Indeed, the efficiency and interconnectivity of roads and highways for automobile use are very good,however, that is only one layer of transit in Columbus. As the data from the group participation project suggests, that layer is not the only desired layer and that they would prefer more varied options of getting around. And while there are clearly areas for innovation in the services that the private sector can offer to Columbus, there is much that the public sector can do to improve the city’s transportation services and it’s usersexperiences as well.

*Any proposals for improvements or redesigns of the topic at hand have been withheld until further research can be conducted.



My Reflections

- Double-check the capacity of your memory card! Luckily I had my iPad with me so I was still able to capture the session!

- You should have some one to help you with documentation! As the saying goes, “two heads are better than one” and having a partner available to help capture all of the data and have a second perspective is very valuable. Also, because during my session I was busy digitally recording what was going on, I wasn’t able to take notes. Having someone who is focused on one of those aspects of data collection while the other person focuses on either another form or facilitation/question asking would be a much more efficient and effective process.

- Complex topics require complex methods. I had never, personally, utilized a research method before that used several different processes in one session towards a singular end goal (homework, make tools for experience, and then facilitating a co-creation session) and I find that it maybe the best method for really complex issues that often have many layers of complexity.

- Cities and Municipalities are really big, complex animals! This goes with out saying but when you start to look at all of the moving parts and their interconnectedness as opposed to the overall big picture it can almost seem overwhelming!

- My project was sufficient enough only to scratch the surface. I was only able to gather the views of transportation systems in Columbus from the perspective of a small group of people. As Vel said, “ I’d say that this is the beginning of a really good idea…” And while I do not feel that a very large scale, bureaucratic study is necessary, I do see the need for a larger and longer study in regards to the topic, just one that is much more agile than current practices.



Thank you for your time!

Morrow _ Public Transportation Exploration

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