Education

Students to Design Prototype Bus Shelter at NDSU

As an outgrowth of an architecture student design contest sponsored by SURTC at North Dakota State University, the Federal Transit Administration is funding the development of a prototype transit shelter for northern climate communities.

"In the winter months, transit riders face serious freezing rain, snow, ice and extremely low temperatures," notes SURTC director Jill Hough. "Improving rider comfort in shelter usability is a key toward increasing transit use. I can't think of a better place for this project than Fargo."

Hough is working with NDSU architecture instructor Cindy Urness and students Katie Evans and Daniel McGinnis on the project. "Students always approach projects with a fresh look and are unencumbered with those practical concerns that the rest of us bring," Urness notes. "We'll balance that fresh perspective with discussions with transit users and those in transit agencies. What can a structure like a bus shelter bring to the transit system to make it more welcoming?"

The shelter prototype will be modular in design so that it can be easily adapted to various sites and for varying numbers of waiting passengers. It will be solar powered and provide real time messaging with links to the transit system, weather, community news and typical destination points. Hough says the shelter will be designed with an eye toward cost effectiveness, energy efficiency, adaptability, environmental impact, communication technology, aesthetics and accessibility.

Design by Katie Evans

"These are all elements that the students incorporated into the designs they developed for our design contest. The students opened our eyes to the possibilities presented by the simple, functional bus shelter," Hough says.

Urness notes that Evans and McGinnis are daily bus riders and will bring those experiences to the project. McGinnis is from Yankton, S.D., and Evans is from Fergus Falls, Minn. "Those are just the kinds of communities that SURTC is trying to reach. They have good firsthand experience of towns in this region."

In addition to working on the prototype designs, Urness and the students will be working with a local architect and construction company on construction of two of the bus shelters from SURTC's student design contest two years ago.

"It will be an opportunity for students to provide input from a user's perspective and to observe the design process from concept to completion," Hough says.

Design by Daniel McGinnis