thoughtflashes
13 September 2010




Subway Seats That Automatically Change Directions

In my city, our subway system has sets of seats that face in both directions. This is because once the subway reaches the terminal stop, it just goes in the reverse direction without turning itself around. One problem with this system is that people sometimes ride backwards. Although one good use of it is so that four people could potentially speak together, it is still a bit awkward for people riding backwards.

My idea is that there could be some type of seats that could automatically change directions, much like how the vehicles in Transformers cartoons change themselves. Once the seats reach the terminal stop, they could somehow flip the seats in the other direction such that passengers ride facing forward.

Subway_Seats_That_Automatically_Change_Directions.jpg

Comments
(6)   
But what for? its not a big problem riding backwards i suppose..
The main reason is a safety concern. If, for any reason, the subway makes a sudden stop, if you are facing forwards, it's much easier to prevent injury.
Just make the back of the seats flip forward to create a seat that faces the other way. It's such a simple problem to fix. The actual base of the seat remains in place. Problem solved!
Some people, including myself, actually prefer to take the subway facing backwards. It's also much more safe to ride facing backwards, stewards on most of the flights have their seats facing backwards.
While there is always the exception to the rule, I would imagine that as many people prefer forwards as backwards.Backwards is certainly safer.Space is at a premium and commonsense prevails, but dont stop having thoughtflashes
I guess it would be possible to design seats that could let the riders flip the seats forward or back depending on their preference, using the mechanism suggested by ashley1969 or otherwise.
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