Umeå – Station of Being

By transforming a bus stop into a more welcoming and less stressful environment for the traveller, the Station of Being in Umeå, Sweden encourages people to use public transport more often. The bus stop’s 'smart' roof uses light and sound to alert travellers that a bus is approaching and each bus line has its own unique sound. The timber pods within the structure rotate automatically to protect travellers from the weather without requiring any power. The pods also allow them to interact by creating social spaces. Since these innovative bus stops were launched, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the use of electric buses in Umeå.

Audio description: This video shows the Station of Being bus stop, with its wooden pods and colour-changing lights in the ceiling. It also shows people waiting at the bus stop and getting on a bus. Speaker throughout the video is Rombout Frieling, designer and engineer of the bus stop. Also interviewed are three travellers, in chronological order: Maria Baudin, Åke Fransson and Andreas Lejon. At the end Ambra Trotto, director of design, research and innovation at The Pink, RISE, also comments on the project.

Design: Rombout Frieling Lab and Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Umeå
Funded by Umeå Kommun and the EU-funded project RUGGEDISED