The OptiPEx project was recently incorporated into the second year of the Bachelor’s in Psychology degree, as a part of the Psychology of Motivation and Emotion module, taught at the University of Zaragoza.
In line with the project’s goal to create more inclusive, accessible and sustainable public transport, the students were tasked with evaluating two of the project’s service concepts. These were “Safety and Protection System”, designed to identify potential risks and facilitate passenger assistance, and “Before You Go”, which provides advanced information on vehicle occupancy to help passengers plan their journeys. These specific concepts were selected because of their relevance to the course’s theoretical content on emotion and motivation, as they allowed students to unpack how a technical intervention may influence a persons’ stress levels, perceived control, sense of autonomy, and perceived safety when using public transport.
In the second stage of the activity, students took on a more active role, working in groups to design their own service concepts addressing different accessibility and inclusion needs. Their proposals included audio information systems for people with visual impairments, adaptations for passengers with reduced mobility, and virtual reality simulators designed to help users anticipate potentially stressful situations during their journeys.
In bringing the objectives and activities of OptiPEx into the university classroom, the importance and practical relevance of supporting a transition towards more sustainable and inclusive public transport was brought to the forefront of the imagination of young people – our future leaders.
