I-Corps: Commercialization of Seat Belt Retrofit

根据美国国家公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）的一份报告，每年平均有20名乘客在城际巴士上死于车祸。每年也有数百人在这些事故中受重伤。城际巴士经常在深夜高速行驶在高速公路上。由于这些公共汽车头重脚轻，一旦发生碰撞，它们很容易翻车。NHTSA和美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）的研究表明，在此类碰撞中，乘客使用安全带可以防止一半以上的死亡事故，并通过对乘客进行适当的约束来减少许多伤害的严重性。尽管有明显的需求，但最近的人口普查数据显示，在美国近3万辆城际巴士中，近80%的巴士仍未为乘客配备安全带。两年前，NHTSA规定，2016年或之后生产的所有城际巴士都必须配备安全带。然而，所有旧巴士都不受这项裁决的约束，因为在现有巴士上安装安全带的成本估计为每辆巴士4万美元。传统的方法需要更换所有的公共汽车座椅，使用更昂贵的内置安全带的座椅。马萨诸塞大学阿姆赫斯特分校（University of Massachusetts at Amherst）的研究小组有一项正在申请专利的发明，可以在不更换现有座椅的情况下，为现有城际巴士改装安全带。因此，成本将会降低，而安全带的改装现在可能是可行的。该项目的目标是验证该改造发明的设计版本，该版本与在客户发现过程中确定的客户需求相兼容。实现这一目标将涉及以下范围和方法：1)验证设计将满足联邦标准中规定的代表正面碰撞的最坏情况载荷大小；2)验证侧翻碰撞的动态模拟证明乘客有足够的约束，以防止乘客从座位区弹出，NHTSA的研究表明这是导致死亡的主要原因；3)考虑到需要满足这些要求的成本最小化和可制造性设计。4)通过与至少100个潜在客户的接触，开发可执行的商业模型画布。这些客户主要是城际巴士的所有者和经营者。为了使市场渗透最大化，客户群可以延伸到整个供应链，包括公共汽车制造商、公共汽车座椅供应商和汽车改装设施。客户发现还将涉及与监管机构和保险公司的讨论，以及对乘客的调查。在这里，团队可以与美国巴士协会（ABA）、Sarah’s Wish基金会、NHTSA、NTSB、American seats、Peter Pan Bus Lines、Stage Arrow Lines、Lancer Insurance和车辆动力学专家建立联系，以确定理想的产品配置、潜在的商业模式、客户、价值主张、成本结构和收入流。如果成功，潜在的贡献应该包括加速现有车队的安全带改造步伐，以及通过引入创新和更实惠的产品来增加整个供应链的收入。

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.