WINNING DESIGNS FOR "BUS OF THE FUTURE" TO BE UNVEILED
On the opening day of the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica, California – coming September 26 – the Big Blue Bus and Art Center College of Design will co-host the “Transforming Transit” Symposium showcasing visually stunning visions of the “next generation” of transit buses.
The futuristic transit project is the culmination of a four-month-long partnership involving transportation officials from the Big Blue Bus and a team of senior-level design students from Art Center College of Design, and also includes input from the public.
The origin for the project came out of the transit agency’s celebration and reflection on what the Big Blue Bus has accomplished over the last 80 years, and where public transit needs to go in the future to inspire people to become regular transit riders instead of drivers.
A key component of the project’s success is the feedback they are receiving from the bus manufacturing industry itself. Several bus manufacturers are participating as judges on the project. The final Bus of the Future designs all utilize environmentally conscious materials and alternative fuel sources, and include such advanced design features as exterior “gills” that clean the surrounding air by breaking down ozone into oxygen. Further the bus will have roof-mounted solar cells that provide energy for interior lighting and climate control, chameleon panels that change color from white to black depending on energy needs, self-cleaning paint that saves water and other resources by eliminating daily washings, front vertical seating for the convenience of short-term riders, floating digital panels along the front and rear windows for displaying images, and large unobstructed translucent panels that create an outdoor-like riding experience
The Bus of the Future event will also feature a public symposium called “Transforming Transit” and will include experts discussing various aspects of transit’s future, including how best to integrate public transportation into society so that it becomes an integral and natural part of how we travel. The “Bus of the Future” event will take place September 26 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica.
