The construction by the Business Loop is to install utility pipes, but it might also result in a special new bus stop.
NextStopDesign.com has received 260 design ideas for a new bus stop that the Utah Transit Authority is planning to build after the construction is complete. More than 11,000 votes from the public were cast on the submitted designs.
The website received ideas ranging from simple and modern to artistic and bizarre, including a bus stop shaped like an enormous mushroom. There were designs submitted from countries all over the world such as Greece, India and Great Britain.
The website closed voting at the end of September to determine the top three submissions. The first-place submission was sent by a person who registered under the username “tourist” from Greece. The website has yet to release tourist’s real name.
Daren Brabham, a U graduate teaching fellow in communication, launched NextStopDesign.com in June as a social project. Crowdsourcing, he explained, is the process of allowing an online community to solve a problem. Brabham sought to reinforce his theory that crowdsourcing can solve government and nonprofit-related problems.
Although it might seem like something that has been around for awhile, Brabham said that it creates much more of an impact.
“The Internet accelerates that process and brings in far more diverse ideas,” he said.
The Federal Transit Authority funded the project with a $115,000 grant. Brabham and Tom Sanchez, the chairman of the metropolitan and city planning department, used the grant to fund the transit project, which Brabham said would be the ideal subject for his research.
UTA will review the winning designs. It has not committed to using the designs for the bus stop but is fully supportive and positive about the project, Brabham said.
The website will continue on with another contest for a different bus stop somewhere in Salt Lake City, said Annie Maxfield, spokeswoman for NextStopDesign.com.
illustrations courtesy Daren BrabhamThere were 260 designs submitted for the new Business Loop bus stop. UTA will review the top designs and make the final decision on the bus stop?s design.
