Design for Retractable Staircase
for Buses
Kunal Gawhade, Pranav Raj, and PL. Ramkumar
Abstract Demand for efficient public transport has increased over time. Buses are
a major part of public transport infrastructure. In India, according to a report by
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), buses on average carry 70 million people
daily. This paper proposes designs for retractable staircases in view of the difficulty
faced by some commuters (elderly, children, and differently abled) while boarding
and deboarding high floor buses to ensure easy accessibility for all. Designs have
been developed after identifying and studying the competitors that are already in the
market. The selection of optimum design was done by comparing and contrasting
the complexity, efficiency, and cost of the concept by the use of Pugh matrix.
Keywords Public transport · Retractable staircase · Design · Boarding ·
Deboarding high floor bus
1 Introduction
In Census of 2011, it was recorded that more than 50% of the population had to
depend on their own private vehicle, i.e., motorbike, car, jeep, etc., to commute
to their destination due to inaccessibility of the public transport [1]. According to
report of Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) during 2015–16 in
India, average fleet occupancy ratio in the state transport buses was found 69.65%
which was 70.74% during 2014–15, and total fleet utilization was recorded 90.4%
during 2015–16 [2].
According to survey by Rajamanickam, elderly people face difficulty in moving
in and out of the bus due to high floor and step of the bus [3]. Injuries are also reported
as elderly people lose their balance while climbing the high bus step or during the
pushing and shoving which ensues while they are boarding the bus. Rude behavior
of bus staff was seen while boarding of elderly and disabled people due to long time
K. Gawhade · P. Raj (B) · PL. Ramkumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Infrastructure Technology Research and
Management, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
e-mail: Pranav.raj.17m@iitram.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. K. Parwani et al. (eds.), Recent Advances in Mechanical Infrastructure,
Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4176-0_34
399
for Buses
Kunal Gawhade, Pranav Raj, and PL. Ramkumar
Abstract Demand for efficient public transport has increased over time. Buses are
a major part of public transport infrastructure. In India, according to a report by
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), buses on average carry 70 million people
daily. This paper proposes designs for retractable staircases in view of the difficulty
faced by some commuters (elderly, children, and differently abled) while boarding
and deboarding high floor buses to ensure easy accessibility for all. Designs have
been developed after identifying and studying the competitors that are already in the
market. The selection of optimum design was done by comparing and contrasting
the complexity, efficiency, and cost of the concept by the use of Pugh matrix.
Keywords Public transport · Retractable staircase · Design · Boarding ·
Deboarding high floor bus
1 Introduction
In Census of 2011, it was recorded that more than 50% of the population had to
depend on their own private vehicle, i.e., motorbike, car, jeep, etc., to commute
to their destination due to inaccessibility of the public transport [1]. According to
report of Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) during 2015–16 in
India, average fleet occupancy ratio in the state transport buses was found 69.65%
which was 70.74% during 2014–15, and total fleet utilization was recorded 90.4%
during 2015–16 [2].
According to survey by Rajamanickam, elderly people face difficulty in moving
in and out of the bus due to high floor and step of the bus [3]. Injuries are also reported
as elderly people lose their balance while climbing the high bus step or during the
pushing and shoving which ensues while they are boarding the bus. Rude behavior
of bus staff was seen while boarding of elderly and disabled people due to long time
K. Gawhade · P. Raj (B) · PL. Ramkumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Infrastructure Technology Research and
Management, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
e-mail: Pranav.raj.17m@iitram.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. K. Parwani et al. (eds.), Recent Advances in Mechanical Infrastructure,
Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4176-0_34
399