Riding on a public transportation system is a mixed bag: you get to where you’re going in an eco-friendly way, but you also have to deal with sticky floors, weird people, and filthy handrails. And then there’s the fact that the handrails are way too high for some people to reach. Designer Justin Choy had enough of the handrail situation, so he invented the Rail Reach.

This simple, foldable plastic device fits into your purse or backpack. When you hop onto a train or bus and there are no seats, you just hook the Rail Reach over the handrail and comfortably hang onto it during your ride. The handle part is covered in a soft material to keep your hand comfortable; the part that hooks over the rail is lined in the same material to keep it from slipping around.

Besides being a handy way to extend your reach, the Rail Reach can keep you healthy by putting a layer between you and all of the germs hanging around on those handrails. Any regular public transportation rider will appreciate that the Rail Reach will probably cut down on the number of colds they get every year.

One version of the device features a small mirror so users can either look behind them surreptitiously or check out their appearance before getting to their stop. Choy took his project to Kickstarter to raise the funds needed for a first production run of the helpful little gadget.

The post Folding Handle Gives You a Clean Grasp on Public Transport first appeared on Gajitz.

Now that we are all in agreement that the Segway is just never really going to catch on, it’s time to look at tiny self-driving vehicles like this one to get us around when we don’t feel like using our legs. The Hitachi Robot for Personal Intelligent Transport System, or (sigh) Ropits, is a one-person vehicle aimed at increasing mobility for disabled or elderly people.

The itty-bitty car is meant to roam around on sidewalks and pedestrian areas rather than competing with much-larger cars for space on the streets. A gyro sensor keeps the vehicle upright even on uneven ground, which is an important feature when rolling around on the uneven surfaces of sidewalks.

The passenger enters the Ropits via lift-up hatch. After entering a destination on the enclosed tablet computer by touching a destination on a map, the passenger is whisked off. He or she can spend the journey reading, napping or enjoying the scenery. GPS and laser sensors help the car find its way and stay on course.

The Ropits car is meant as part of a public transportation plan in which folks with mobility problems can call a Ropits from a number of special “stops” throughout a city. For passengers who aren’t comfortable with turning over all of the control to the car, a joystick allows for a manual override. In case of an emergency (like a self-driving car uprising, perhaps?) the human inside of the Ropits can take over and drive.

The post Self-Driving One-Person Robot Cars Hit Sidewalks of Japan first appeared on Gajitz.

They’ve been talking about it for years, but now MIT has finally done it: they have unveiled their tiny, folding city car. Previously referred to simply as “CityCar,” the automobile was introduced as “Hiriko” to the European Union Commission chief in Brussels in mid-January, 2012. The name means “from the city” in Basque, and it’s clear that this tiny electric automobile is definitely meant for city streets.

Hiriko has a 60-mile range and does away with the centralized motor; instead, each wheel has its own drive motor. It also does away with doors, instead offering entrance and egress through its upward-opening windshield. When you park the car, its rear wheels scoot up a bit toward the front wheels, folding the car into a much smaller size so that three of them can fit into a standard parking space.

The Hiriko might eventually be sold to individuals, but its first mission is in a car-sharing scheme in Spain. Just like the bicycle sharing schemes becoming popular in cities all around the world, the car-sharing plan will involve community-use electric cars that can be rented and returned at designated stations. There are plans to roll out the Hiriko-sharing plan in several other cities in 2013 and beyond, so there will be plenty of chances to ride in one of these endearingly weird little vehicles.

The post Smartest Car of All? MIT’s CityCar Makes Real-World Debut first appeared on Gajitz.

If you’ve ever ridden on a city bus, you know what an…um, “interesting” assortment of people you’ll find there. And that’s just on a regular city bus – imagine how many more extreme personalities could fit on the Superliner Youngman JNP6250G, the world’s largest public transport bus. At 82 feet long (39 feet longer than standard buses), the monstrosity can fit 300 passengers.

With two accordion ribbed sections, the bus can turn on the same radius as a regular, non-gigantic bus. It was designed to make up the entire Bus Rapid Transit service in both Beijing and Hangzhou, cities with large and ever-growing populations that demand sensible public transportation solutions. And since the mega-buses will have their very own highway lanes, urban travelers will have another reason to leave their cars at home and let mass transit take them wherever they need to go.

The post World’s Largest Bus Holds 300 Eco-Minded City Commuters first appeared on Gajitz.

Taking public transportation is definitely not a fun activity that anyone looks forward to, regardless of how good it may be for the environment. But what if something could make you eagerly anticipate your morning and afternoon commutes? The Game Strap is a concept from designer Jian Qian that would turn the safety straps in public transportation into fun video games that would relieve the tension so many of us feel on the bus or train. As an added bonus, it might even encourage young people to give up their seats to less able-bodied commuters.

The straps would hang from the ceiling and be powered by the motion of the vehicle and the pulling of the user’s hand. Games like Tetris or shooting games which require minimal movement and can be operated with a single directional pad would ideally be installed. A system of vibrations and flashing messages would let passengers know what stop is next so that no one gets so involved in playing that they miss their corner. And of course, the straps can still be used as simple security straps for commuters who would rather not add some play to their day.

The post Waiting Game: Making Public Transportation Commuting Fun first appeared on Gajitz.