Island is a double-decker self-driving tram concept, designed for the city of Hong Kong in the post-Covid era.
Island’s by Andrea Ponti highly innovative design, incorporates industrial design, transportation design, public design, urban mobility and sustainability. The project includes exterior, interior and tram stop design.
With the Coronavirus pandemic, people are shunning public transport and relying much more on private transport.
We wanted to reimagine public transport in the post-Covid era from a prevention perspective. Especially in the densely populated city of Hong Kong, where social distancing is hard to achieve. The idea of designing a tram is no coincidence: trams are one of the city’s landmarks and the tramways celebrate their 115th anniversary this year. The concept of social distancing, which limits people’s freedom to move and interact became the design challenge and focal point for the new concept.
The name Island references the innovative design of the interiors, where large circular benches facilitate social distancing and passengers sit facing outwards in a radial pattern. The exterior design is inspired by the Hong Kong urban landscape, which features vast surfaces of glass and rounded-corner buildings.
The driverless technology optimizes the interior space of the tram, making it easier to manage travel times and increase onboard safety. The tram has a retractable connector for rapid charging at tram stops.
It represents the forward-thinking spirit of Hong Kong, and introduces a new concept of public transport that overcomes the practice of social distancing. We shouldn’t be dividing and separating but instead rethinking public spaces with a seamless, integrated and effective design approach.
source Andrea Ponti
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