400 Phoenix bus stops to be outfitted with shaded design by ASU students
Nov 13, 2017, 4:43 AM | Updated: 12:13 pm
(Facebook photo)
(Facebook photo)
PHOENIX — Anyone who lives in Phoenix knows how unbearably hot it can get in the summer — and how the heat can make it more difficult to take public transportation.
But a group of Arizona State University students have created a shaded bus stop design that will be featured at 400 stops across Phoenix, according to ASU Now.
The design was created by university seniors Ethan Fancher, Dan Duquette, Derek Smoker and sophomore Erlend Meling, who won a contest for industrial design students last year.
According to the students, they designed the bus stops with one priority in mind: Shade. Lots and lots of it.
(Photo: Anya Magnuson/ASU Now)
The stop “provides shade no matter what time of day or what angle the sun is striking it,” the publication said.
“We took inspiration from a sundial,” Fancher said. “No matter where the sun is, there will always be shade.”
But the stops also had to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and be vandal-proof.
It includes an alcove so wheelchair users can wait in the shade and individual seating for other riders.
The stops will also be made of a rusted-finish steel so “even if it gets vandalized with a Sharpie, it won’t stand out.”
Phoenix wants to have 400 bus stops across the city outfitted with the design within five years.
The city will first replace damaged stops with the design, then move on to stops with the highest ridership before hitting stops with no shelter.
The bus stops will be used by millions of people across the city and the students said the experience has been “surreal.”
“If we can make it easier and make their lives a little better, that’s a good feeling,” Fancher said.
