Abstract:
Commuters in South Africa rely on a variety of public transport (PT) modes every day to
access various social and economic opportunities like the workplace, academic
institutions, and healthcare. However, captive, reliant commuters are disappointed on
countless occasions by unsafe, unreliable transport services and feel transport authorities
and modal operators remain indifferent towards their needs and complaints, as solutions
being implemented fail to address the actual problems needing attention and commuters
are not consulted during PT service design. There exists a need to permanently close this
negative cycle by ethically providing for the travel demands of captive lower-income
commuters and establish a transport culture based in making human needs the centre of
design thinking.
This research paper describes an investigation into whether the inclusion of human-centric
design (HCD) in the service- and operational design of PT in the Gauteng Province (GP) of
South Africa, would establish a customer-orientated transport culture, and whether more
human-centric transport service provision would appeal to commuters and address their
specific travel needs and desires. This includes investigating how the priorities of transport
institutions can be aligned with the core needs and desires of the commuters they serve,
so a harmonious yet practical relationship can be cultivated between these stakeholders.
Devised from primary research and global literature findings, the study tested five
principles that combine principles of HCD and PT that were validated by a sample of 300
Gauteng commuters. The findings show that for PT services to be supported, successful
and harmonised in Gauteng, the following is necessary: authentic, collaborative
stakeholder consultation between leaders, designers and commuters; integrated PT
control centres; practical empathy for commuters; centralising human needs, desires, and
feedback in the PT design process, and enhancing a commuter’s perception and
perceived value of a PT service. These principles can be used in the PT design process to
promote elevated customer satisfaction, desirability to use PT and, in turn, the operational
success of Gauteng’s PT services.
