ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that the designer's role is to approach design for transport from the point of view of the user. Key challenges for designers and engineers include the development of individual transport devices which are carbon-friendly, be they differently powered motor cars, or more radical alternatives to them. The current state of vehicle usage is that cars provide 90 per cent of all passenger transport needs and commercial vehicles over 90 per cent of all freight transportation needs. The professions of transport design have grown with the development of transport technology, high-density living and complex patterns of movement. The greatest use of designers in the transport domain is in the design of vehicles. For land transport these include both public transport and personal transport. The book considers the direction transport design might take in the future.