Island is a double decker tram for the post-Covid era

Designed by Ponti Design Studio in Hong Kong, this autonomous two-story street car concept offers larger spaces that make it easier to keep the proper distance among passengers. 

Trams have been one of the city landmarks in Hong Kong for more than a century. To celebrate the 115th anniversary of Hong Kong’s tramways, Ponti Design Studio came up with the concept of a new double decker streetcar that could help passengers keep the proper physical distance to avoid the threat of a Covid-19 infection. The tram’s name, Island, is a reference to the “seating islands” that have passengers seating outwards and make it easier to move through the two-story vehicle in an orderly flow without much contact with other people. From the outside the tram looks sleek and polished, with a design that aims at merging with the glass facades of the Hong Kong island skyscrapers. Another interesting detail about the project is that the tram, in the designers’ vision, would be battery powered, with a retractable connector on the roof to quickly recharge during stops. According to Ponti’s description of the project, the Island tram is though to overcome the practices of social distancing in the post-Covid era: “we shouldn’t be dividing and separating”, read the project’s description, “but instead rethinking public spaces with a seamless, integrated and effective design approach”.

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