Polestar Trambus Concept Offers a Glimpse Into Future Public Transport Systems

It's called the Polestar Trambus and is one of the finalist designs revealed just a few months ago during the 2021 Polestar Design Contest. Why did a public transport concept reach the finalist's stage in such a contest? Because it's not just for show, the designer analyzed and developed the concept on several levels.

The mind behind Trambus is Jung Kim, an industrial design student from Seoul, South Korea. If you follow along with automotive designs and concepts, you know that much of what comes out of South Korea is aimed towards minimalism; Trambus is no different. However, if we read the fine print behind the design, Jung Kim states that it's inspired by "Scandinavian minimalism." So, who's really inspiring who?

As minimal as Trambus seems from the outside, under the skin, this public transport vehicle is chock-full of technology aimed at an autonomous and electric experience. Even the interior is modular, shifting based on the needs of the people inside.

Now, this concept has been dubbed Trambus because it can perform functions of both trams and busses, depending on the concentration of traffic. For example, during rush hour, Trambus will be riding along in the configuration depicted in most images in the gallery, that of several linked modules. When streets are less busy, the modules can be dispersed individually along routes.

One final design aspect, the lateral doors of Trambus, also allow pods to connect on a lateral basis, too, in the process, requiring two lanes of space. I'm not sure in what setting this last feature would be used.

For a minute or so, let's say you're a citizen in a city not too far in the future. Once you've hitched a ride inside Trambus, you'll be presented with an interior that can morph in regards to the needs and likes of citizens.

What do I mean by this? It's simple. If you're an elderly citizen and standing isn't really your game, at the press of a button, the benches along the sides of Trambus shift to offer a seated position. To optimize space in some of the pods, one arrangement moves the benches out of the way to maximize lateral space.

One final position of these benches is transforming into nothing more than a work desk. Yes, you read that correctly. If you must attend to urgent matters that require your attention while commuting to and from work or any other place for that matter, you can whip out your laptop and set it down on the modified bench. This position can be accessed only while standing.

Even though Jung Kim didn't reveal much about the drivetrain of this system and how it works, we are told that Trambus is electric and fully autonomous. But again, no further indication of where sensors or battery packs could be hidden.

This design made it so far in the contest because of its ability to adapt to current cities and roads without any modification to our infrastructure. As long as you've got the electrical and autonomous capabilities in place, you could just plop Trambus in any old city, and it should be able to work just fine.

I'm not saying that Trambus will be the next public transport system you'll see on city streets, but once we've worked all the kinks out of autonomous driving, it won't be long until it's applied to our everyday lives. Some cities in the world have already begun playing around with autonomously-driven vehicles. It won't be long now.