Cyclist Pitches Anti-Dooring Video Icon to TLC

taxidoor11.jpg

City cyclist and graphic designer Marko Bon is working to get a logo like this one added to taxi video screens as part of the "Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Program." Bon tells Streetsblog that the Taxi and Limousine Commission has shown interest in the design, which he hopes can be incorporated in a way that will draw passengers’ attention. Info stickers have included anti-dooring messages, designed by Transportation Alternatives, for years, but video PSAs got lost in the shuffle when making their "Taxi TV" debut in 2003.

Bon is looking for design feedback from Streetsbloggers. (An alternate version of the graphic is posted on Flickr.) After the jump, a mock-up of Bon’s design as it might look on today’s taxicab screens.

2949288875_511e730eb0.jpg

  • Needs an audible warning too.

  • J

    It looks so small, and on one of the tiny cab TV screens it will be even smaller.

  • Streetsman

    Could be a sticker on the window or by the door handle

  • Graphic looks terrific. “when opening cab door” probably should be (much?) bigger. Can probably shrink “Watch For Bicycles” — it’s kind of implied by the graphic anyway — to make room.

  • Great idea, but it should be WAY bigger on the screen. Can’t it take up a lot more space when the screen changes? I think the screen is different when the cab stops to collect payment anyway.

  • Marko Bon

    @Daniel, @J — agreed, it should be bigger. The NYC Taxi Commission people I was in touch with told me they handed off the graphic to an outside Agency that will be designing the Pre-Roll and Post-Roll of the video. I sent them this mockup to remind them that the “Pause Screen” is equally (if not more) important, as I’m guessing that many New Yorkers probably hit Pause right away. I didn’t reconfigure the layout of the pause screen, just wanted to show em how the graphic could be integrated easily. I tried to keep it subtle because I bet they have all sorts of people lobbying for having their message included in the video — to say nothing of the content developers and sponsors whose logos are there already. They haven’t included me in the design process, which is understandable, so my approach has been to be as reasonable as possible.

  • You probably are all aware, but Transport for London (TfL) has been experimenting with all sorts of cycle awareness campaigns recently. They have a few videos available on the web-site: http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

    In particular, they are trying to increase awareness of the dangers of “inattention blindness”: if you are concentrating on something (driving), you can become blind to other events that you would normally notice (bicyclists and pedestrians).

  • ryan

    Great idea, but much too small on the video screen. Should either be a brief full-screen shot when the cab pulls over to collect fare or a window sticker.

  • t

    How about a PSA on the video screen from a celebrity? David Byrne comes to mind? Very New York and a bike commuter.

  • Should say

    “LOOK BEHIND YOU”
    instead of “Watch for bicycles.”

    But *Keep the same graphic* and keep the “when opening cab door.”

    Good job.

    I agree, it needs to be audible too. I was shouted down here once for suggesting that, because the old “buckle up” messages were annoying. I thought that was a stupid reason to reject the suggestion.

  • And they were annoying, YoYoMa can’t remember to take his cello or whatever out of a cab, but he wants you to buckle up? A verbal message for your own safety, feel free to ignore it, a verbal message for someone else’s seems quite relevant.

  • Marko Bon

    @daniel — yeah that payment screen is handled by the Taxi Commission — it’d be great to have this graphic there, and I’m all for HUGE.

    @t @zev — dig the newyorker PSA notion. The Taxi Commission isn’t in charge of the programming though, so the PSA would have to be an ad-buy. Seems like something Bloomberg should put some $$ toward, incorporate it as a promotion of these new bike lanes, right? That way it’s a win win (Bike Safety PSA celebrity + promotes big NYC initiative). Anyone have connects with the Mayors office?

    @ddartly @komanoff — I’ll play with those phrases, many thanks for the suggestions.

  • tailor

    I am still recovering from an unfortunate juxtaposition of a taxi door and my upper arms. Beautiful line across the right bicep, and the corner of the door clearly outlined on the left. Honestly…it was my fault. Because regardless of whose “fault” it is, you will never win a fight with a steel door frame! Slow down and instead of thinking “everyone needs to be looking out for me because I am the virtuous bicyclist,” think “These bastards are out to kill me and I have to be constantly on the alert and defense.”

  • KSNYC

    It’s a great idea and a fantastic execution. I agree that making it larger would make it more effective, and I like the sticker on the window idea a LOT.

  • Marko Bon, it’s very nice to see you’re considering readers’ suggestions. You’re doing good work. Let us know if and how we can help lobby T&LC to use your project.

  • gecko

    good start. some sort of electro-mechanical system slowing door opening (and or with warning sounds) when someone is near would also help; as well is inexpensive cameras, etc. . . . could also be coordinated with turning, to start a focus on protections preventing accidents and people outside cars from being hurt.

  • Marko Bon

    Hey All, there’s a lecture given by the NYC Usability Professional’s association tomorrow that seems to deal with this subject in particular, “Usability & Interaction Inside NYC Taxis: Design Lessons Learned” If you’re interested this is the link to get tickets: http://nycupawud08.eventbrite.com/

  • I love the logo. It’s simple and effective.

    However, I probably wouldn’t even see it. I always turn that screen off as soon as I sit down in a cab.

    I vote for making it into a sticker.

  • Marko

    @Jason — that’s why I wanted that logo on the PAUSED screen, rather than the intro/outro animation. Meanwhile, check out these lights with which you make your own bike lane: http://www.good.is/?p=14716#

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

DOT and TLC Unveil New Anti-Dooring Video and Decal

By Stephen Miller |
At a press conference at Union Square this morning, DOT and the Taxi and Limousine Commission announced another facet of the LOOK! campaign, a new video and a decal reminding taxi passengers to exit on the curb side and check for cyclists before opening cab doors. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson and […]

City Hall Press Conference on Cyclist Safety

By Aaron Naparstek |
Thursday, June 29, 2006, 9:00amCity HallOrganized by Transportation Alternatives Cyclists, Advocates: City’s Bike Safety Efforts not Enough Demand New City Bike Safety Plan to Address Chronic Hazards In the past week there were three serious bike crashes in New York City, two of them resulting in the deaths of individual cyclists, Dr. Carl Nacht and […]

Panel: Taxi 07 – ‘Transforming an Icon’

By Aaron Donovan |
On January 18, 2007, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum will host a panel discussion as part of Taxi 07, the Design Trust program aiming to reinvent the NYC taxi and taxi system. This coming spring, Taxi 07 will mount an exhibit at the NY International Auto Show, demonstrating an improved taxi and taxi system. New […]

How the Taxi of Tomorrow Can Make Cycling Safer

By Ben Fried |
More than 13,000 yellow cabs ply NYC streets, carrying more than 600,000 passengers each day. That’s a lot of chances for a familiar risk to city cyclists — car doors opening in traffic. The city’s Taxi of Tomorrow competition promises to select a single design for the entire yellow cab fleet. In the process, the […]