Diseño Industrial · 2026
SUMA: Sistema Urbano de Movilidad para Adultos
SUMA is an industrial design project that proposes an electric microtransit system aimed at transforming the mobility experience of older adults in Bogotá. The project stems from a contradiction identified within the city: while Bogotá has made progress in creating spaces and programs to keep this population active and socially engaged, accessing these spaces remains a significant barrier due to the physical, operational, and emotional limitations imposed by the conventional public transport system. Through a mixed methodology combining bibliographic review, semi-structured interviews with older adults, field visits to spaces such as Casa del Árbol, and service design tools including User Journey Maps and Service Blueprints, the project identified that the core problem is not distance or the user's physical capacity, but rather the breakdown of trust generated by a transport system perceived as hostile, overcrowded, and indifferent to the needs of older age. In response to this diagnosis, SUMA is structured as an integrated system articulating three dimensions: a flexible service model with door-to-door and neighborhood meeting point boarding options; a local-scale electric vehicle with a capacity of eight passengers, designed around the principles of universal design and ergonomics, with an interior layout that encourages social interaction throughout the journey; and an operations platform that includes a simplified mobile application and a telephone helpline, ensuring inclusion for users with varying levels of digital literacy. The project is grounded in a prospective vision of Bogotá's future, aligned with global trends in sustainable and proximity-based mobility, positioning itself as the human-scale link connecting older adults to the city's major transit networks such as the Metro and Regiotram. SUMA does not seek to replace existing systems, but to complement them, proposing that mobility should be, above all, a bridge toward social integration, autonomy, and emotional well-being for a rapidly growing population that deserves a city designed with them in mind.