Two Taubman College undergraduate students were the driving force behind the recent redesign of route information shared with riders of the University of Michigan’s bus system. The improved signs installed at bus stops will improve accessibility for a transit service that transports more than 5 million riders annually.
Petra Mihalko, Urban Technology ’25, and Eric Li, Urban Technology ’26, are former bus drivers for the U-M system who took on the initiative as a research project beyond their coursework. They spoke with numerous students, dispatchers, and drivers to identify key problems with the system’s wayfinding elements. They discovered that new riders faced a steep learning curve, information about routes was inaccessible at each stop, and labels and signage were inconsistent.
After identifying the problems, Mihalko and Li suggested that each route be given a unique color and two- or three-letter code; that bus stop signs list which routes stop at the location; that posters with in-depth route information be located at each stop; and that each bus be labeled with the unique code for its route.
Mihalko and Li worked with Robert Goodspeed, chair of urban and regional planning at Taubman College, and Steve Dolen, executive director of logistics, transportation, and parking (LTP) at U-M, to implement their findings and recommendations. Most of their proposals were implemented over winter break for the 2024-25 academic year.
“Petra Mihalko and Eric Li brought valuable expertise of our transit system to the project, offering suggestions that were both relevant and practical while incorporating modern design practices,” said Tony Floyd, communications manager at LTP. “We are grateful for the extensive effort they put into creating detailed mock-up designs, which they generously shared with us. This allowed us to efficiently update, adjust, and implement many of the recommendations in our transit signage and resources.”
With 5.6 million annual riders, U-M has the second-largest bus system in Southeast Michigan, behind only Detroit’s. As former U-M bus drivers, Mihalko and Li were influenced by their past experiences with transit to improve the system.
“I’ve always cared about transit,” Li said. “I grew up in (Shanghai), where the subway network went from nothing to one of the biggest in the world, so I always wanted to improve transit because I can see what it has done for my city.”
As students in the Urban Technology program, Mihalko and Li were well-equipped to tackle the project. Mihalko said much of what they did was influenced by their experience in studio design courses.
“(The project) was really informed by a lot of stuff we’ve done with the courses,” Mihalko said. “We had to actually interview people, figure out what we were going for. We had to consider stakeholder perspectives. There are always student projects, so many students have ideas, but our goal was to make practical suggestions that could be implemented.”
Goodspeed helped Mihalko and Li schedule meetings with LTP and present their research findings in a way that could spark change.
“When Petra Mihalko and Eric Li shared their ideas for improving the public information and signage about the U-M bus system, I could immediately see the potential value of their thoughtful and professional designs for our community,” Goodspeed said. “Although this project was not created for a class, I think it still exemplifies the goals of the B.S. in Urban Technology Program — to improve city life through innovative practice that combines deep knowledge of urban systems, technical knowledge, and design skills.”
— Story and photo by Joshua Nicholson
