I met up with Katy to complete one of our three interventions: Hospitality in Transit, a.k.a. Katy's Hospitality Service. It went much better than we expected!
One of the things that has set us back during this project is conforming to the procedural approach of asking for permissions. So we took it upon ourselves to set up a hospitality service at an isolated station with infrequent services where passengers could be either alone and/or waiting a while for their trains. Katy chose St. John's Station, which proved a brilliant choice as not only did commuters show appreciation for it - whether or not they had some tea or not - but the platform staff equally embraced it to the extent that they actually started offering commuters our service!
Katy and I used our skills from working in hospitality to entice commuters to our service. I also set up my camera on the bench pictured below to record some of the interaction for a short film documenting our intervention. I came back the week after the intervention to do some additional scenic filming to complete the final edit.
Overall, Hospitality in Transit shows that a hospitality service at train stations can increase the scope for interaction towards relieving the unspoken awkwardness of interaction on public transport. From learning about the demands of being a platform guard to discovering a shared trait for on-the-cusp tardiness with another commuter, Hospitality in Transit turned one of the most isolated and quietest stations in London, to potentially the most interactive!
Perhaps with the cohesive capacity and extended planning, our catering intervention could be trialled at stations in north, south, east and west to see how the levels of interaction on public transport, or the opportunity for it, varies according to which side of London you are in. Us Chatty Commuters have learnt that Hospitality in Transit is best implemented at quiet stations, where the commute is less busy hence the potential for a more interactive commuting experience is achievable. All-in-all, satisfied with how this one went. Well done, Katy!
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