VTI, the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, is an independent and internationally recognized research institute within the transport sector. Its primary mission is to conduct research and development in infrastructure, traffic, and transport to continuously improve knowledge and contribute to achieving Sweden’s transport policy goals. One of the research areas focuses on how standing passengers in public transportation fall and the injuries they may sustain in such events.

This bachelor’s thesis aims to develop a concept for a test device that enables safe fall and balance recovery tests for standing passengers in public transportation on VTI’s existing crash test track. The background of the project lies in the need for experimental data to calibrate a simulation model used to predict passenger injuries resulting from falls caused by perturbations in public transportation, particularly during sudden braking or acceleration.

The work was carried out using established product development methods and included needs analysis, concept generation, and validation through failure modes and effects analysis. Several concepts were developed and evaluated with a focus on safety, realism, and practical feasibility. The most promising solutions enable natural fall movements with minimal risk of injury.

The result is a well-developed concept that can serve as a foundation for future development and realization of a test device. The concept includes systems that allow both fall and balance testing, as well as several features enabling these tests to be conducted on the crash track. These features ensure that maximum allowable speed and acceleration limits are not exceeded and include the development of an extension for an existing carriage to facilitate use within the crash test track. In addition to visualizations of the concept’s various solutions, a failure modes and effects analysis is also presented as the result.