I-Corps: Commercialization of Seat Belt Retrofit

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Each year an average of twenty passengers on intercity buses are killed in crashes according to data in a report from National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA). Several hundred serious injuries also occur annually in these crashes. Intercity buses often travel at high speeds on highways late at night. Since these buses are top heavy, they are prone to potentially rolling over in the event of some collision. Studies by both NHTSA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) show that passenger use of seat belts could prevent more than half of these fatalities as well as the severity of many injuries by adequate restraint of passengers in such collisions. In spite of the obvious need, recent census data shows that nearly 80% of the total fleet of almost 30,000 intercity buses in the US is still not equipped with seatbelts for passengers. NHTSA ruled two years ago to require seat belts on all new intercity buses produced on or after 2016. However, all older buses are exempt from that ruling due to the estimated cost of $40,000 per bus to add seatbelts to the existing buses. The conventional approach requires replacement of all bus seats with more expensive seats that have seatbelts built into them. The team at University of Massachusetts at Amherst has a patent pending invention that can retrofit seatbelts onto existing intercity buses without any need to replace the existing seats. Thus, the cost will be lessened, and retrofits with seatbelts may now be feasible. The goal of this project is to validate a design version of this retrofit invention that is compatible with the needs of the customer identified during a customer discovery process. Achievement of this goal will involve a scope and approach of: 1) verification that the design will meet the worst case load magnitudes specified in the federal standard that represents head on collisions, 2) verification that dynamic simulation of a rollover crash proves adequate restraint of passengers to prevent ejection of passengers from the seating area, which NHTSA studies show is a leading cause of the fatalities, 3) design for cost minimization and manufacturability given the need to meet these stated requirements, 4) development of an executable business model canvas based on customer discovery by contact of at least 100 potential customers. These customers are primarily the intercity bus owners and operators. To maximize the market penetration, the customer base could extend throughout the supply chain to bus manufacturers, bus seat suppliers, and motorcoach rebuilding facilities. Customer discovery will also involve discussions with regulators and insurers, and surveys of passengers. Here, the team can network from established contacts at the American Bus Association (ABA), Sarah's Wish Foundation, NHTSA, NTSB, American Seating, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Stage Arrow Lines, Lancer Insurance, and vehicular kinetics specialists to identify ideal product configurations, potential business models, customers, value propositions, cost structures, and revenue streams. If successful, the potential contribution should include both acceleration of the pace of retrofitting the existing total fleet with seat belts and an increase in revenues throughout the supply chain by the introduction of an innovative and more affordable product.