The Advent of road transport in modern Guwahati as elsewhere in India, has developed during the British period. The first form of a vehicle used in Assam, was in the year 1942, at the WWII time; a military bus used to run through the heart of the city for their own use. Post-independence, new roads were constructed and major repair happened. 1947, the first city bus was placed on the roads of the city. It was a Ford-L Land Bus, named ‘Shuttle Service’, later renamed as ‘Navayuga’. By the year 1975, there were 8 city bus routes spawning over the entire region.

A decade ago, the popular means of transportation within the city were cycle-rickshaw, Auto-Rickshaw and City buses, city buses being the most widely used mode. It was however found that, even though the bus routes were widespread, it did not connect the localities thoroughly. There was still a large section which remained unconnected; narrow lanes were primarily the reason prohibiting the entry for buses. To tackle this issue, in 2003, Assam government came up with a new transport system – by use of a stripped-down Tata Sumo, naming it the ‘Trekker’ system. It received an overwhelming response from the crowd.

Over the course of development, the transport system in the city has developed a giant leap, with the government recently launching a fleet of 400 AC Volvo buses. Trekker service, has seen considerable changes since its establishment. But this hasn’t been addressed in depth, one of major concerns is overcrowding of the vehicle.

This project deals with the acute problems faced in the trekker segment and redefining it from grounds-up to make it stay updated to the current aesthetic and safety norms that ply on the road globally keeping the routes of Assam preserved.

As per the research, brief was set to design a new four-wheeler vehicle with ease and quick ingress/egress capability, weather protection and safety and humbleness in the design to suit to the Guwahati city context. Safety, modern, humbleness and welcoming were the keywords in shaping up the final design.