Equipoise is a design concept for a hub system for Toronto created by Jay Namkung and myself. Using biomimicry we took natural models and adapt them in a transport applacation.  

Jay Namkung X Edward Fong

King Street is a 7.3 km stretch in the heart of downtown Toronto connecting major attractions such as the Rogers Center, Air Canada Center and the Financial District. Everyday, King St. has chaotic traffic jam caused by a diverse number of users fighting to pass through a narrow 4-lane street. Parked cabs and food trucks interfere with drivers and cyclists, while the streetcars crawl through the busy street.

By understanding the natural models, the design has evolved into a multipurpose structure, which will promote a sustainable approach in transportation. The design shares a symbiotic relationship with mass transit making it more dynamic. The design will take the opportunities that are unused in the current system and monopolize it.

The hub network would be introduced on to King St. using its current streetcar track to harness its potential. Through distribution, our design can use King St. efficiently reducing the conflict, which causes gridlock. By building a relationship between one another the hub introduces unique interaction with the users would reduce the congestion on King St. Having it, as an open-ended system will allow it to grow overtime, adapting and evolving.

The hub is design with multiple levels that incorporate diversity, preforming different functions for certain needs and users. Adding different layers increases the utility and functionality of the same footprint that the current road system would use, thus creating an efficient system.

Using the current track system will ease the implementation of the hub. It was also help the evolution of the streetcar, transforming it into a multi-use vehicle oppose to just a mode of mass transit. The hub will bridge the connection of streetcar and its users.