Living Room Station: Creating a “Home Away From Home” at a Busy Transit Stop
Client: Mpls Downtown Improvement District (DID) and Metro Transit
Date Range: 2015
Summary: The Musicant Group was retained by the City of Minneapolis to increase awareness, access, and create positive experiences at their “Mobility Hubs,” to inform future planning for these new transit centers, and to build buy-in for a long-term mobility hub network in Minneapolis. Our pilot began with hubs at 12 important transit points, and led to a citywide Mobility Hub network, growing to include 32 hubs by 2022, and expanding significantly into Downtown. Our main strategy was launching an Ambassador Program, which enlisted champions of care and programming at each Mobility Hub site.
Project Goals & Strategy
Our goal was to help our clients create more positive experiences for users of a busy transit stop in downtown Minneapolis, redefining the transportation experience for those in the city.
Our strategy involved allowing our design and programming to come directly from our user-engagement, and demonstrating new levels of surprise, delight and safety for transit riders.
What we did
Designed, constructed, and installed Living Room Station based on user engagement responses.
Programmed and maintained the station for 30 days straight.
Created a comfortable and inviting space for users to wait for the bus and enjoy Downtown.
Outcomes & Benefits
In our feedback from our bus riders, we learned that:
86% of bus rides felt Living Room Station made their experience downtown better.
70% of bus rides said the Living Room Station made them feel safer downtown.
95% of bus riders said the Living Room Station made them want to catch the bus at 6th and Nicollet.
Users of Living Room Station wrote unsolicited notes of gratitude and left them on-site for us.
While our client feared that the station would be tampered with, not a single throw pillow was lost during the 30 days of programming and stewardship.
Testimonals
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"I stop here with my 2-year-old daughter every morning. This used to be the WORST part of our daily commute. Sitting on the bus bench was always scary with a 2 year old and the vehicles driving by so closely...Now we feel warm, safe and invited here daily. This stop is the HIGHLIGHT of our daily commute, and the bus always seems to arrive too soon. Thank you so much for taking this step to improve our daily lives. We are truly grateful.”
- Transit Rider (unsolicited note left for us at Living Room Station)