I was sitting at one of the many bus stops in Belgrade, trying to think of a new project for my 3D graphic practice. I decided to think of a way to improve the bus stops, and fix many of its flaws, as well as try and inspire new ideas.
The result was a bus top that features a separate non-smoker and smoker areas, yellow strip for people with visual impairment, back-lit display with the bus stop’s location, increased number of seating, and better resistance to elements. On top of that, this 2 by 7 meters structure features more space for advertisers as well, with one 1.3 by 1.6 meter panel on the outside, and one 3 by 1 meter panel inside the waiting area.
Separation of smokers from non-smokers on Belgrade’s bus stop is an issue that is far from being addressed properly. While a ban on smoking in public spaces is being planned in future, as a smoker, I implemented a somewhat less extreme approach by introducing a smoking area within the bus stop, separated by a glass pane from the non-smoking part. The ash box used by smokers is placed on the farther end of the smoking area as well. The two parts are also clearly marked with back-lit signs so as to encourage proper usage.
One of the problems that Belgrade is having in many areas is a completely user-unfriendly approach to signae design. The bus stop design I’ve done here features signs in both Serbian and English, where Serbian is written in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts. The signs on the stop are also all back-lit so as to allow for easier identification in night-time.
One of the goals while designing the sign on either end of the stop was to make it painfully obvious that it’s a bus stop. I consider it important to give users a certain degree of assurance that their actions will have an intended outcome (like waiting for a bus at the right location will lead to a bus ride). Hence the sign features a large bus icon.
Other elements also work towards building the comfort zone for the users. The bus lines map which is large and back-lit, as well as the clearly denoted lines that pass through this station will enable users to feel more secure about their actions, and create a more pleasant experience.
