Scoping the Human-Centred Design Led 2020 Vision for Malaysia Electric Buses (EV)

The Malaysia National Automotive Policy (NAP 2014) focuses on the systemic changes needed for the country to develop a competitive and sustainable automotive manufacturing sector. Alternative electric vehicles (EV) -including the public transport sector, in particular buses - forms part of this strategy. This also features in the Transport Scenarios for the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan for 2020. Kuala Lumpur's population is expected to reach 10 million by 2020, the current public transport system is beset by problems, e.g. route congestion, a growing trend of private car ownership among a rising middle-class, and a range of environmental and infrastructure issues which must be challenged. A human-centred design approach to public transport focuses on developing (future) scenarios to accommodate the 2020 economic, environmental and social considerations building on Design for Sustainability (DfS), user needs, behaviour change and inclusivity principles. This provides a design framework for greater public acceptance resulting in key design decisions necessary to execute a project of this nature. We focus in this paper on the criteria and methods for a design driven approach and the rationale for a focus on 2020 scenarios of use for an integrated bus and shelter system combining the above considerations to promote positive uptake and behaviour change towards using public transportation systems. This PhD project study forms part of a government funded modular electric bus driveline systems project linked with Swinburne University of Technology and the Automotive CRC. The focus of this research is to use an Industrial Design-led approach to enhance public acceptance for eBus systems specifically for the Malaysian government.