Public Observation - Field Research

MRTS Train

MRTS User Journey Observation

  • Role

    UX Researcher

  • Project Duration

    2 weeks

  • Team size

    Individual project

Overview

MRTS train journey observation was conducted in Chennai, from Velacherry MRTS station to Park Town. The aim was to basically observe the infrastructure, nuances of the journey, hidden complexity of passengers while transit and suggestions for enhancement.

MRTS Observation

 

Criticism

Inadequate maintenance and usage of station facilities. Improper maintenance of stations, vandalism, non-functional station amenities such as lifts and escalators, passengers insecurity.

 

My Role

MRTS Observation

I captured the social and behavioral pattern of the passengers, cultural design, demography, transit model, as well as amenities of the train and empathized the problem behind.

 

Journey in State of Paradox

  • MRTS Station, having enormous space inside and outside face the contradictory of being largely deserted at times.
  • People rarely use the station entrance and flee to board the train through a short cut in the broken side walls of the entrance.
  • Stairs need to be used to reach the platform from entrance, whereas the shortcut leads directly to the platform slope
  • Every station has paid restrooms, elevators, lifts but all remains locked or closed with no reasons
  • Ticket vending machine hardly serves the purpose, so there is an undeniable long queue at ticket counter.
MRTS

Cultural Design

General compartments, first class and ladies compartments are partitioned accurately provided with words and pictorial representation. MRTS uses the same gauge as the suburban system, thus allowing the movements of passengers, vendors carrying luggages between the existing suburban lines and the MRTS. Do not have automatic doors like a metro train. So passengers can board quickly at the same non-safe as they try to hang out when it is crowded.

For every stop and start the train honks to alert the passengers to board or get down.

 

Persona

Passengers who commute to work are the avid users of MRTS Train. In a highly populated country like India, train is considered to be a common mode of transporation for all genders across ages. And I could identify 4 key personas emerging out of the observation.

MRTS Observation

Suggestions for improvement

Rent out the station space for commercial purpose to attract more crowd as well as get more revenues.

Ticket vending machines should be in a running condition. Special focus would be on pedestrian facilities that would provide access to MRTS stations from nearby roads and bus stops, apart from identifying new feeder routes.

Promise public safety, integrated ticketing systems, better facilities for passengers, increased frequency of services taking into consideration of passenger demands, and also better maintenance.

 

MRTS

Learning

Integration with chennai metro would not bring better connectivity inside the city but also bring more usage rate. Design and Experience can influence the revenue model of a state or country, shape the perception, influence the behavior and eventually build a better future.

“Design for the change and be socially responsible”