Artful journeys: improving the traveller’s experience

Transport planners usually focus on getting travellers from A to B efficiently and safely. However, travellers are not parcels: they have emotions that influence their experience. Art can enhance their experience of travelling. Making journeys by public transport or by walking more enjoyable is also stimulating sustainable travel. Over seven years we supervised 11 international students doing their dissertation on Art and Transport. They investigated different art forms and different transport modes in different countries: visual arts, design, and music, in metro and rail stations, busses, airports, and on streets. User surveys, brainstorm sessions, interviews, and gathering images on social media were methods used. Several students made their own designs, projected on pedestrian routes. A wide range of ways to improve travel experience emerged. Based on these dissertations the paper discusses how art can contribute to the travel experience, the many forms art in transport can take, and research methods to explore this topic.