Kuala Lumpur is about to get what might be the classiest subway trains in the world. The city is trying hard to get more citizens to take public transportation, so they are installing 58 gorgeous new trains designed by BMW. DesignworksUSA, a subsidiary of German car makers BMW, designed the cars to be appealing both in appearance and in experience.

One of the goals in this project was to build a system that honored the area’s rich cultural identity while inspiring progress. The exterior of each train displays a pattern of lights that call to mind the faceted architecture of the city. The interior of the trains uses an LED lighting system beneath the seats to inspire a feeling of spaciousness and safety.

Even the interior of the trains will pay homage to the traditions of the area. The interior color scheme features traditional Malaysian patterns in varying shades of blue, reminiscent of the vitality of Kuala Lumpur. The trains will also be kind to disabled passengers, with hand rails, space for wheelchairs, and sound and light indicators to indicate when the doors are opening and closing.

The train cars themselves are nearly as impressive as their appearance and features. They are made of lightweight stainless steel with weight-optimized components. When the trains reach the end of their estimated 30-year lifespan, they will be approximately 95 percent recyclable. The 58 new driverless trains will be in use in Kuala Lumpur’s subway system by 2017.

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Traveling on a subway can be a somewhat disconcerting task. Because you are traveling underground and not seeing any landmarks or distance passing by, your brain has a harder time registering that you are, indeed, moving. Besides this, the cars tend to be rather dark and depressing.

A group of British design students has collaborated to create a digital “sunroof” for subway cars that would reconnect travelers with their surroundings. The screens would display animations of passing landmarks along with weather information for the outside world. A computer on board the train would store the vital information and update it via wi-fi.

As pictures scroll by on the “sunroof,” unobtrusive ads with scannable QR codes are displayed against the artificial skyline. Advertisers would get a completely new way to reach commuters, while commuters would get a welcome distraction from the questionable smells and worrying sounds typically encountered on the subway.

The post Overhead Digital Screens Bring Sunshine to Subway Rides first appeared on Gajitz.

Subway systems all over the world rely on posters and signs to communicate important information to passengers. But no one does the subway poster like Japan. These colorful examples appeared in the Tokyo subways between 1976 and 1982 to remind passengers about all sorts of subway etiquette and regulations.

Being polite about the amount of space you take up on the train is one of the main focal areas of this poster campaign. These posters encourage passengers to uncross their legs, put away the newspapers and avoid invading other people’s space.

Among the other rules that the posters publicize are standing behind the white safety line and being careful not to get one’s belongings stuck in the closing doors. Unlike today’s boring posters, the vivid graphics make these signs instantly attention-grabbing.

Leaving umbrellas on the subway seems to be a rather serious problem in Tokyo. A lot of these vintage posters are dedicated to reminding passengers to grab their brollies before exiting the trains.

Apparently giving up seats for pregnant ladies or new mothers, the elderly and the infirm doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Passengers are reminded to stand when there is someone who needs a seat more than they do.

Finally, smoking on the platform was only allowed during certain hours – but some passengers needed a gentle reminder to snuff out their cigarettes during the designated non-smoking times.

The post Making Manners: Vintage Tokyo Subway Reminder Posters first appeared on Gajitz.

Anyone who has lived in or visited England has no doubt seen the iconic Tube map. The simple, colorful design (above) is not so much a map as it is a diagram of the Underground stations and their relative positions. While it’s been an effective way to find your way around London since the 1930s, designer Mark Noad says it’s time to move on to a more geographically accurate representation of London’s underground train system.

Noad’s map, above, keeps the easily understandable colors delineating each train line but makes it possible to judge geographical distances between each station. Most Londoners will say there’s nothing wrong with the old map and that it wasn’t designed to be a map for those traveling on foot. But the new map would be reassuring for tourists who find the traditional map over-simplified to the point of being confusing.

Noad’s new design turns a designer’s eye to the problem, using a more space-efficient font that is easy to read on printed materials and on mobile devices. The geographically accurate diagrams indicate, even to first-time London visitors, just how far apart any two stations are. The design truly does seem to be geared toward the non-native Londoner, giving a simple way for the tourist to tell whether she should use the station on this block or whether she can safely keep sight-seeing for a few more blocks without wandering too far from the Tube. The map can help those traveling via overground trains as well because it shows where they link up with the Underground.

The redesigned map will come with a huge benefit: an interactive website that will eventually feature layers of information. The layers will all contain different tidbits such as walking shortcuts, times between stations, zones and disabled access. Noad’s design is far from becoming the official Underground map, but it’s already gained a following of enthusiastic fans. For those who truly don’t see the merits of the new design or who simply don’t like change, the official Underground map is still being promoted by Transport for London as a simple and clear guide to the below-ground trains of the capital. In the end, it seems to come down to a matter of taste; one map doesn’t necessarily fit all users.

The post Re-Drawing the Tube: Iconic Map Gets Designer Makeover first appeared on Gajitz.

For overwhelmed business people who can’t seem to find time to sleep, let alone do all of the household chores, shopping for groceries can feel like a huge waste of time. European supermarket chain Tesco (known in South Korea as Home Plus) has come up with a brilliant way for South Koreans to do their shopping during the normally-wasted parts of their morning commute: they put grocery store shelf mock-ups on subway platforms.

The “shelves” look just like they do in the stores with products neatly displayed. Each product bears a QR code that, when scanned, drops the item into the shopper’s virtual shopping cart. When their virtual shopping trips are done (hopefully just before their respective trains approach) shoppers choose a time for the food to be delivered to their doors that evening. A load of fresh food can therefore greet busy workers right after they arrive home from work every day.

Although online shopping/home delivery of groceries isn’t a new practice, putting the shopping interface in a public place is. And putting QR codes on the products is simply brilliant. It’s a great example of how technology really can take the most mundane, unpleasant tasks and make them almost enjoyable…or at least less traumatic.

The post Fast Food: South Korea’s Futuristic Subway Supermarket first appeared on Gajitz.