Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University Oye- Ekiti, Nigeria.

*Corresponding Author’s Contact Details: E-mail Addresses ✉: bayode.olorunfeemi@fuoye.edu.ng; Phone no ☎: +(234)8036061994

Accepted May 29, 2020

Transportation is one of the challenges of school pupils in Africa. Various governments have made several efforts to ease this burden by providing commuter buses of different types and configurations without considering the users. The goal of ergonomics design is to create a seat that optimally adjusts to each user’s physical dimensions and optimizes the comfort of operator in a time. This research was carried out to determine the ergonomics suitability of the passenger seats in free shuttle buses dedicated to secondary school pupils operated by Ondo State Government in Nigeria. The relevant design variables measured included; backrest frame height, backrest depth, backrest length, seat depth and seat height. The anthropometric data of 30 female pupils and 60 male pupils and the design variables of 5 big and 4 smaller buses were measured using statistical analysis. The results obtained satisfied the basic requirements. However, seat depth and back rest width and clearance of seats show a mismatch between the dimensions of existing manufactured passenger seats of minibuses. It is suggested that design dimensions need some modifications by Automobile industry by considering users, and the choice of pupils’ transport must be made by professionals.

Key words: Anthropometric; Commuter-bus, Design-dimension, Ergonomics, Pupils.

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