Rail Transit and Covid-19 by Zachary Kaan

Rail transit and Covid-19 Navigating the new normal • A whitepaper by Mijksenaar

Introducing the “Six Feet Society”

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the way we travel (or don’t) unlike any other crisis in recent memory. It has halted long-distance travel and office commuting, and severely restricted essential travel. With societies carefully restarting economic activities, a new reality will set in with measures like physical distancing and health monitoring as a part of everyday life. This will require entirely new approaches to the way we live, work, shop, and play—and how we travel to and from these activities. We call this the “Six Feet Society.” Much of the current preparation is focused on immediate, temporary solutions like social distancing, health testing, and limiting crowds. We see a bigger opportunity. After these quick-fix solutions, we envision ambitious interventions for transit hubs to navigate this new reality.

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This crisis has shown a positive side: people, governments, institutions, and companies have come together to make swift and sweeping changes in our society focused on the good of the people. Together, we can realize large-scale change for a better future.

Mijksenaar As a wayfinding & information design firm with 30+ years experience in transit, we take a big-picture approach in helping people navigate spaces and places. Our in-depth understanding of the entire passenger journey enables us to identify both systemic issues and specific touchpoints to address. In doing so, we devise solutions in process, communication, and information design across the holistic journey.

Transit has been—and always will be—essential. Rail transit improves lives in countless ways: moving millions of people efficiently, providing an essential link to jobs and services, and reducing pollution, noise, and traffic. We have an opportunity to bring long-term improvements to our rail systems. Page 3 of 20 • Rail and Covid-19 • Navigating the new normal

How do we get transit back on track today, and set up for success tomorrow? Rail transit faces unique, complex challenges post-Covid Transit has been—and always will be—essential. Rail transit improves lives in countless ways: moving millions of people efficiently, providing an essential link to jobs and services, and reducing pollution, noise, and traffic. Transit will play an essential role in resuming public life in our cities, but it faces unique, complex challenges to do so safely and effectively. Rail transit faced challenges even before Covid-19. Funding shortfalls, negative perceptions, and complex bureaucracy inhibit the success of public transportation systems. No two transit systems are alike: some transit systems face overcrowding, while others struggle to achieve enough ridership to adequately fund the system. These challenges have now been exacerbated by Covid-19. Crowded train cars must be avoided. Decreased ridership will result in even less funding. Rail infrastructure is inherently inflexible and already difficult to change, and the uncertainty and changing guidelines of Covid response tactics make changes even more difficult to implement.

Still, this is a moment to think beyond both the immediate and entrenched challenges to create better rail transit now and for the future. Taking measured steps to provide a safe journey can seed trust in the short term, so that ridership can return in the future—in even greater numbers than before. Implementing long-term solutions that provide safe, robust, dependable services and attractive, delightful experiences will ensure a better rail transit experience in our cities—where everyone has access to opportunities to live, work and play.

Core principles Our vision for rail in the Six Feet Society is grounded in five principles. These principles guide our thinking on how to get rail transit back on track today, and set to thrive into the future.

Interaction

We need to rethink interaction and service design to reconnect people, while accounting for factors like social distancing.

Trust

As a foundation to urban life, transit must quickly rebuild riders’ trust and win them back—especially with new processes and policies.

Seamlessness Health

Health will become as important an issue as technical safety and terror prevention in the global travel industry into the future.

Using architectural, digital, and human means to implement the ideal passenger flow, we can create a journey that’s safe and convenient.

Adaptiveness

Flexible, lasting solutions can not only keep rail prepared for the next pandemic, but also improve the passenger experience–making the new normal better.

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Interventions

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Through our analysis, we’ve identified six main themes to address:

1 Manage passenger demand

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2 Pre-commute planning

5 De-crowd boarding

3 Healthy environment

6 Make space onboard

Solutions come in many mediums, ranging from architecture, to health monitoring, to service design, to information. They aim to make a difference both in the short and long term.

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In the following pages, we illustrate in detail how these solutions can improve the rail transit journey post-Covid.

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1 Manage passenger demand Transit capacity and demand patterns will shift due to factors like physical distancing, working trends, and passenger apprehension. Agencies will need to dynamically adapt their operations, introduce strategies to optimize service, and mitigate and/or augment demand to safely maximize mobility.

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Collaborating with businesses, government, and fellow transit operators can help stabilize surges in demand for rail transit. “How will my commute become safer and better?”

Shape the public’s perceptions Mitigate and/or augment demand by communicating: • service plan, post-Covid • new or changed processes • health performance metrics • services and amenities

Alternative work day Reduce crowding and overall demand by: • promoting working from home, where possible • limiting days working in office • shifting or staggering commute times • fostering work cultures that mitigate the desire to “rush” home

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Surge pricing Dynamic pricing that correlates with real-time demand may help to avoid surges of riders. Ensure that essential workers and financially disadvantaged people are exempted.

Optimize frequency and capacity Factors like physical distancing, shifted work schedules, and geographic trends will alter hourly demand. Adapt service frequency and train capacity to match these changes.

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Alternative transit options When trains are crowded, incentivize alternative modes of transport, like bus, bikeshare, or shared rides. By forming cooperative partnerships, transit as a whole becomes stronger.

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2 Pre-commute planning Providing detailed, real-time train information will empower commuters to plan and make informed decisions about when they travel. This information gives them control, putting them more at ease during the journey.

Passenger volume tracking Using turnstile data or image recognition, stations can track the number of people inside. Sharing this information in real time can help people decide when to commute. Tuning the algorithm can predict the best departure time.

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Reserved seating By implementing seat pre-selection, we can ensure passengers are seated in a physically- distanced way. Reserved entrance timeslots Riders can only enter subway stations during pre-reserved blocks of time. This helps to manage the number of people entering the station.

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3 Healthy environment Pre-travel and on-site health filters will make for a controlled and healthy journey, which can be smooth and interruption free. Meanwhile, the entire space can be designed to enhance guests’ well-being to make an attractive and enjoyable experience.

Healthy train hall architecture Bring in sun, air, greenery, and open space. Blending outdoors with indoors enhances physical and psychological well-being. This makes for a healthier, less stressful, and elevated passenger experience.

“How do I know I’m healthy enough to travel by rail?”

Health self-check Communications inform people on how to selfcheck if it’s safe for them to use mass transit.

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Passengers only Restricting access to ticketed passengers is a short-term solution to minimize crowding and cross contact inside.

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Body temperature surveillance Temperature scanners and CCTV cameras can identify passengers with symptoms, aiding intervention and contact tracing.

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“Just walk through? This is like using the E-ZPass lane!”

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Mobile ticketing Passengers can skip the ticket booth or vending machines by using their device to pay the fare instead.

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ch u o T PIDs spread across hall By providing train information throughout the terminal, passengers don’t need to dwell in crowded gate rooms.

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Touchless turnstiles Contactless payment, RFID, biometric imaging, and other technologies allow for touch-free entrance.

4 Touchless train hall Automating and reducing touchpoints throughout the station will not only minimize the transmission of pathogens, but will also make the passenger’s journey more efficient.

Touchless retail Adopt innovative concepts like: • just-walk-out shopping • virtual assistants • self-service kiosks

Order-to-seat service Passengers can have food and shopping delivered to their seat or table in the waiting area.

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5 De-crowd boarding Schedule and announce tracks Have a pre-set, consistent track assignment for the day’s trains. Announce departure tracks as early as possible to distribute passengers.

The volume of passengers needing to move effectively on and off trains requires careful consideration of new methods to improve crowd movements, as well as physical and architectural changes.

Touchless doors Automatic doors eliminate a potentially unhygienic touchpoint. Use all available stairs To disperse boarding passengers, provide instructions and wayfinding on using all available paths to the train.

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One-way flows With platforms on both sides of trains, arriving passengers exit onto one platform, while departing passengers board from the opposite side. These separated exit/boarding flows reduce cross contact. In addition to eliminating clashing flows, one-way flows speed up boarding and streamline wayfinding.

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c ks Frequent status updates Provide announcements and push notifications so that passengers can best anticipate their train’s departure.

Widened platforms Having more space means more people can board quickly. This avoids crowding and bottlenecks.

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Waiting on platform By announcing tracks early and having seating areas on large platforms, passengers have another place to wait.

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Waiting on platform gives passengers that need extra boarding time a head start, and expedites boarding overall.

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6 Make space onboard Measures will need to be taken onboard trains to balance maximizing occupancy with maintaining a safely-distanced environment. Passengers will need to feel comfortable and safe to ensure ridership.

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Subways Flip-up seating Flipping up seats increases standing room, which allows for a healthy balance of physical distancing and optimized train capacity.

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In the future, flip-up seats can make space for: • peak hour crush loads • bikes and scooters • cargo during off-peak hours Peak hour crush load

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One-way doors Train doors (and corresponding platform stairs and corridors) can be designated for boarding or exiting only, which separates flows to avoid cross-contact. Physical distancing graphics Visual cues and information help passengers keep a safe distance apart.

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Commuter rail Overhead partitions Partitions can be erected between rows or sections of the cabin to reduce droplets spreading throughout the train. These partitions create quasi compartments, which in the future can be repurposed as family or silent zones, or a new level of service.

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Blocked seating Middle and aisle seats can be blocked to allow for physical distancing between passengers. Decals and placards explain rules about seat choice. In the future, blocking free seats can be used to offer a new level of service, similar to business class on intra-European flights.

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Learning from experience Our knowledge from past projects helps us identify opportunities in the “Six Feet Society.” Our long history with train and subway stations gives us a deep understanding of the issues and needs of transit passengers. Collaborating hand-in-hand with operators, architects, and station designers allows us to input on multidisciplinary solutions that will improve the operations and passenger experience of stations. There are unique challenges for every type of passenger journey, especially in multi-modal transit hubs. That’s why we put passengers at the center of our process, exhaustively analyzing the entire journey, to develop systems of solutions that enhance the entire experience. With multidisciplinary expertise in design, user experience, architecture, psychology, and communication, we bring a multi-faceted approach to wayfinding. We carefully curate what to communicate to people and how to communicate it in the built environment in order to empower people to navigate spaces and places. motivate human behaviors that fulfill strategic goals.

Some of our Covid-19 initiatives Mijksenaar is already developing and implementing solutions for life in the new “Six Feet Society.” Here are just a few:

Complete information toolkit

Physically-distanced flows

We designed a full variety of pictograms, floor markings, graphics, and other communication tools for use throughout train stations and on-board trains throughout the Netherlands.

We advised on flow design for multiple shopping centers, as necessitated by physical distancing requirements. Special graphics drive these guest flows.

for ProRail / Dutch Railways

for Kroonenberg Groep shopping centers

photos: Kroonenberg Groep

Maintaining the full experience for ARTIS Zoo

Wayfinding signage guides visitors along strategically-designed paths, which avoid cross-contact while preserving the complete and exciting zoo experience.

photos: ns.nl

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Our mission is to help people navigate spaces and places. We design wayfinding and information systems that create intuitive, efficient, and compelling human experiences. We’ve done so for airports, cities, museums, parks, and of course, train stations. If any of the ideas explored in this document spark a thought, prompt a conversation, or even lead to a solution, we have succeeded! Let’s get in touch. Together, let’s make the most of the new normal and everything this Six Feet Society entails.

newnormal.mijksenaar.com mijksenaar.com

Amsterdam

New York City

+31 20 691 47 29

+1 917 924 3322

Anne Frankstraat 31 1018 DM Amsterdam Nederlands

106 West 32nd Street, Suite 111 New York, NY 10001 United States

Contact: Aad Kalkman kalkman@mijksenaar.com

Contact: Cesar Sanchez cesar@mijks.com

eutah mizushima @unsplash

We’re here to help!