Australians’ size variation and better transport system design

iMOVE is holding a webinar on 28 September 2023 to discuss the findings and outcomes from the Human size variation in design of Australian transport systems project.

DATE:  Thursday 28 September 2023

TIME: 1.00—2.00pm AEST

The event has been held, and a recording of the event has been added below.

About the webinar

With transport being so central to our daily lives it is essential that people have access to transport systems and spaces that are functional, usable, and safe. At a fundamental level this means designing systems using accurate human size information that is representative of our population now, as well as taking into account future changes.

Getting an accurate picture of size variation in our population is therefore key to good human-centred design. This picture includes many different dimensions such as stature, waist circumference and hip breadth. However, to date there is no anthropometric dataset that is specific to designing transport systems for the Australian population.

To resolve this challenge, the Department of Transport and Planning Victoria and Transport for NSW have worked with the University of South Australia and the Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation to evaluate currently available datasets and come up with a new anthropometric approach specific to Australia.

The project delivered a detailed dataset of 105 anthropometric measurements generated through a new statistical method that uses representative height and weight data from the Australian National Health Survey. The results showed a high level of accuracy and a significant improvement over the most commonly used database for transport design.

Join us to find out more about the outcomes of this project, and how it can aid human-centred design in transport.

Speakers

• Alistair Furnell: Human Factors Manager, Department of Transport and Planning, Victoria
• Dr Francois Fraysse: Research Fellow, University of South Australia

Final report

A wrap-up of the project, including downloadable version of the report’s final report documents, can be found at: Australian’ size variation and implications for transport design

Webinar video

The event was recorded, and is embedded below.