PSS - Commuter Companion.

PSS - The Commuter Companion

The Commuter Companion (CC) is a bicycle product service system designed towards developing sustainable and healthy travelling practices, particularly short trips to and from work. CC is an integrated bicycle rear light, data acquisition device and social media hub. It is aimed at providing a feature rich product for the user, while at the same time not endowing the consumer with a large financial burden, meaning, you get a lot for your money!

The Commuter Companion's primary objective is answering the growing rate of traffic congestion which brings inner city arterial roads to a literal standstill. Anyone who has driven (or ridden) any of Sydney's main roads or highways during peak hour knows how frustrating and time consuming sitting in traffic becomes. Shocking statistics support these innate inconveniences in the form of both financial, but more importantly, environmental burdens.

Congestion costs the Australian government billions of dollars in expenses annually, from the cost of maintaining busy roads, to lost productivity time. The Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics estimates that congestion costs in our capital cities will rise to $20.4 billion dollars by 2020 (Cycling Promotion Fund, Economic Benefits of Cycling for Australia, June 2008). A sobering statistic considering the primary cause for congestion is due to single occupant vehicles (vehicles with only one person) clog the lanes of our roads. Stop and think, you could eliminate half of the vehicles on the road during peak hour by simply sharing your car with one other person, or better yet, not driving at all if not necessary. Current commuter cycling strategies (cycling lanes etc.) reduce the cost of congestion by an amazing estimated $63.9 million per annum (Bauman et al, 2008).

The amount of greenhouse emissions produced by this congestion and traffic is equally as sobering. According to RMIT, 51% of car trips are traveled over a journey of less than 5km, with 38% over less than 3km (RMIT, 1999, Austroads, 2005). Not only that, but passenger vehicles contribute to a higher percentage of fuel consumed by road vehicles than ALL other vehicle classes COMBINED (61%) (Apelbaum Consulting Group, Australian Transport Facts, 2007).

The purpose of the Commuter Companion is to introduce the social aspect of bicycle commuting, something entirely lacking while in the confines of a car by allowing users to share, compare and join rides with many other people within their immediate vicinity. It provides a fresh approach to travelling and one that benefits the user in more ways than just their wallet or health. Progress is tracked and the social nature of the project will encourage users to cycle more often. instead of driving.

The user will activate 'Ride Share' on their Commuter Companion and sync the CC with their bicycle sensors as well as their phone (for the purpose of alerts or messages). From then on the CC will inform the user whenever a group ride is in progress and display the information on to their smartphone via an app. The user will then locate and join the group ride. 

The Commuter Companion product itself is fundamentally simple, with good reason. In order to maintain a low unit price, techniques were employed to ensure tooling and material costs were minimized, in order to offset the increased cost due to the implemented technologies. Universal brackets used and compatible with many existing products, available from a variety of manufacturers, have been utilized in order to reduce the need for additional tooling. The CC aims for a price point of approximately $50, well under the price range of existing GPS enabled cycling computers, but not well above that of existing wireless (data display only, does not record data) cycling computers, with the benefit that the CC does not imbue a continuous battery burden on GPS enable smartphones.