Tick-Tock Goes the Clock

We don't particularly enjoy waiting. For a date to arrive, for potatoes to boil, in queues, at traffic signals, especially in a public transport context, "Ugh! Why me?"- is our instinctual response. Research covering four countries reveals that, on average, a minute's wait feels like three minutes compared with time spent travelling. In public transport, much to human dismay, waiting time is unavoidable. So how can waiting become more enjoyable? Elaborating on some of the many useful suggestions mentioned in my favourite book, 'Transport for Humans- Are we nearly there yet?', I share some of my waiting experiences in the public transport context.

As a part of an ongoing study, I got the opportunity to travel to different parts of London, covering more than 500 kilometres on public buses and tubes. With varying degrees of frustration visible across age groups, time of travel, the volume of passengers, and, most importantly, contexts, waiting can have diverse emotional and psychological responses. I observed certain behavioural design elements in London's public transport network that reduce uncertainty, and ambiguity, diverting our attention from the ticking clock and making wait times less stressful.

Though we can objectively measure time with a clock, our perception of time operates in terms of relativity. While commuting especially, we value things in terms of "how much time?" rather than "how much money?". The attentional model of time suggests that when more attention is given to non-temporal, static information processing, fewer attentional resources are allocated to process such information, resulting in the misperception of time (time drags). In other words, when more attentional resources are allocated to process information, time perceptually seems to "fly". The transport setting allows designers and marketers to redesign and reframe the context around passenger wait times.

Paddington station was operating at capacity on a cold November evening. It was peak hour rush, thronging crowds of daily commuters and tourists crisscrossing. London Paddington is a Central London railway terminus,?London Underground complex, with commuters interchanging between National Rail and London Underground services- I was confused and lost. Habituated, I look for signages and guide strips or ask my fellow, often confused commuters for directions. Unmissable, The new Elizabeth Line station entrance stood out among others, leading to an assumption that it is the same entrance to all other lines. Just as I stepped off the escalator, a signage reading "District and Hammersmith & City lines" pointed the opposite way. Scratching my head, I took the escalator back upstairs and reached the Paddington station terminus entrance, still unable to find my way. A reliable travel partner, I use the Citymapper app to find my way. The map confirmed I was in the right place. I then decided to follow the pack inside the terminus. Voila! Navigating through Paddington station could be a nightmare for the first time and unfamiliar passengers.?

Outside Paddington Station is a new clock created by Dutch artist Maarten Baas - a great example of what Pete Dyson and Rory Sutherland elaborate in their book- "Passtimes pass time". Eastbourne Terrace is a busy stretch, congested throughout the day. Despite staring into this clock for several minutes, the man trapped inside the clock, repeatedly cleaning the face and drawing new hands every minute, successfully redirects attention- not towards time but towards the art. I mention this specifically because I was engrossed in this repetitive, predictable, yet engaging art for as long as I was stuck in traffic. Similarly, digital and dynamic advertising screens inside the stations and at bus stops provide designers, advertisers, artists and the government a creative opportunity to redirect our attention from the passing time. Stimuli, like music advertising and infotainment, redirect our attention, leaving less processing capacity to keep an eye on time, which then seems to pass more quickly.

The Canary Wharf station is a great example of how simple tweaks in behavioural design can have reassuring effects on commuters. As I enter the station, ambient lighting, salient signages, yellow guiding strips against contrasting greys running along the station floor and vertical circulations (escalators and lifts) act as way-finding tools for passengers. The colour yellow, contrasting with whites and greys, grabs attention, is warm, and is not too aggressive, aiding intuitive way-finding. The platform level is, therefore, darker and more atmospheric, with brighter elements in the ticket hall.

Recent VR testing revealed that dimmer and warmer light hues reduce our perception of waiting times. Moreover, the LED screens on the platform doors inform passengers of the train's exact arrival time. Upon boarding, the screens inside the train display the train's movement between stations in real time, redirecting our attention to the animated train movement on the screens. The Class 345 Aventra electric train, with a capacity of carrying 1500 passengers, boasts of large, clean, spacious seating and standing area, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, carefully selected interior design and colour palette that provides an accessible and welcoming environment, Light-coloured ceilings maximising the feeling of height and openness inside the trains.?A recent study on Dutch trains revealed that travel time is perceived as shorter in cleaner trains.?

Creating a positive human-transport experience involves insights from behavioural science and psychology, design, art, building and adding value to engineering and policy foundations. To sum up - Waiting drags, we are averse to uncertainty and ambiguity in unfamiliar environments, pastimes pass time, calm and ambient environments shrink our perception of time, neat environments reassure us and create a positive emotional state, and clean train - shorter trip.?