State-of-the-art

When searching for products around our target group and problems I did not find any useful physical product at all. Sure there are strollers that you can fold and buses in different citites/countries all have different setups but thats not our field in this project. This is kinda worrying and was something we have talked about. Theres not really any physical product you can make to help the people with babystrollers on buses except redesigning the bus itself or make a new strollers. Maybe we haven’t explored all the possibilites or we aren’t smart enough. But also this creates alot of opportunity space to create something that could at least make their lifes easier, that is not physical. Small services that in the end might become a larger system.

As I said not alot comes up when you search for this area on the net. Mostly you read about complaints and how things work (and not work) in different cities/countries. One page I read was from Singapore (http://sg.theasianparent.com/baby-strollers-giving-mothers-grief/) and the buses there didn’t even allow strollers if you can’t fold them and put them in a luggage rack (sounds like they have regular buses with an aisle in the middle and seats on every side). In Vancouver there seems to be some kind of war between seniors and strollers (http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/07/14/stroller-wars-on-the-buses-seniors-vs-baby-buggies/) where strollers take up space where seniors can sit, but it also states a priority list that seems to be common among transportation companys:

“Seating areas nearest the doors on SkyTrain, SeaBus and buses are designed for people with disabilities and for seniors.

• Seats at the front of buses – trolleys, 40’ conventional and 60’ articulated coaches – can flip up to accommodate people with mobility devices. Please vacate these seats immediately and help make room for them.
• Strollers may use this area; however, when demand dictates, the stroller must give way to people with mobility devices, including walkers. Children in strollers should be removed and the strollers collapsed.
• For safety reasons, the maximum size for a stroller is 122 centimetres (48”) long by 60 centimetres (24”) wide. Strollers must be collapsible.
• Wheelchairs and scooters up to 122 centimetres (48”) long by 60 centimetres (24”) wide, will usually fit on the bus.“

So it kinda always boils down to how to fit the stroller and the others in a bus. A stroller is big and takes a lot of space and it can be a safety risk if it blocks exits and aisles (which I personally have seen alot in Stockholm) and something should be done. Our project won’t fix this but hopefully we can come up with something that helps the parents with strollers as our buses are not the greatest for them.