BACHELOR OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
DEGREE PROJECT – 2021
DURATION – 5 MONTHS
How can transportation in Phnom Penh be more safe and efficient?
Leap Shuttle is an autonomous electric shuttle bus designed for Phnom Penh, Cambodia as a safe, accessible, and efficient form of transportation for low-income workers.
Leap Shuttle is designed to be as inexpensive as possible while addressing the transportation needs of garment and factory workers. Users hail Leap Shuttle from their phone and it will pick them up at their location, this is made possible by the lack of a fixed route. The name Leap represents good fortune and success in Cambodia, and the color yellow represents equality.
- Technical development focused on how users would sit and stand in the vehicle, the packaging of the components, the materials and manufacturing methods, and the specifications. To keep the price low, Leap has an open design to keep occupants cool without air conditioning and to maintain the open-air experience of a tuk-tuk, while having a roof to protect against the elements.
THE PROBLEM
60% of garment workers travel long distances to work in unsafe vehicles with 73 fatalities and 4,700 injuries in 2014.
Lower density areas are not well served by the existing bus system. Garment and factory workers travel in unsafe open trucks, packed tightly, and completely exposed to the elements. Many women experience unsafe conditions walking home from work at night. Workers need a significantly more safe and efficient way to get to work.
Target users are garment and factory workers, market vendors, shop keepers, other low-wage workers, and students. The minimum wage for garment workers is only $192 per month.
- Initial sketches and small-scale models focus on a broad range of forms and sizes, from single passenger solutions up to larger scale busses. Later sketches focus on refining the design direction, a compact autonomous bus.
Concept drawing
