Again this year, the students applied their expertise to solving challenges relating to TTC services.

The event takes place from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. in the lobby of the Bahen Centre for Information Technology at 40 St. George Street, where student teams will present posters and prototypes of their final design concepts.

First-year students spent the first half of their course identifying and researching issues of usability, accessibility and sustainability on the TTC. Their work resulted in a set of 80 requests for proposals (RFPs), describing design challenges that their peers could solve. The students then selected the top six of these RFPs as the design challenges to solve during the second half of the course.

The students identified challenges ranging from improving way-finding signs to improving how TTC staff communicate with passengers during an emergency.

Last year’s showcase produced designs for solving issues with the accessibility of automated entrances, the safety of passengers boarding and exiting streetcars, and subway surface access points, among others. The event attracted other U of T students and faculty, members of the public, media and transit experts — including Metrolinx staff and Councillor Adam Giambrone, the Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission.

You can find more information on the event, the RFPs and the display schedule here.