An interesting project in South Korea to use beacons to alert passengers when a pregnant woman is boarding the train so they can offer their seat.
I kind of side with one of the women - it’s kind of odd. It fees a little
invasive, telling the whole world you’re pregnant (when it’s not supremely
obvious). I also liked being able to decide myself in the moment. When it’s
very crowded, it’s nicer to sit out of the way (especially in the latter
months when you are HUGE), but when empty, it wasn’t bad to stand. If I
needed to sit, I didn’t have any issue asking for a spot.
On the other side of the coin though - I will admit that when I’m wrangling
my toddler I am very grateful when someone offers their seat without asking
for it.
It would be nice if it were integrated with the bus app so that while
purchasing a ticket I could say if I needed a seat or not (either b/c I’m
pregnant, or injured, or carrying a small child). And then the generically
colored light could blink letting passengers know to vacate the seat for
someone who needs it.
I’d be curious to see if people start to take advantage of it to avoid
having to stand on crowded transit systems.
I should add that there is one thing that bugs about this article and that’s the comment about technology replacing awareness. I don’t think this should replace people’s awareness of others around them. But I do see this as being helpful to alert passengers in advance to clear a seat.
Rather than the person’s making their way to the occupied seat and then asking to sit and waiting, while the transit starts moving, for the occupant to gather their things and move - people could be alerted ahead of time so that the seat is ready when the passenger in need gets there. That would be pretty rad.