Ergonomics Assessment of Passenger Seats of Mini-Buses in Ethiopia

Abstract

A descriptive survey was conducted on an ergonomics assessment of passenger seats of minibus around Mekelle city, Ethiopia (Africa). The basic research questions which answered by this study are (i) to what extent the locally manufactured passenger seats of minibuses are comfortable to the passengers around Mekelle city? (ii) is there significant difference between the dimensions of locally manufactured passenger seats of minibus and the body dimensions of passengers around Mekelle city? (iii) are the passengers around Mekelle city aware of the comfort of passenger seats of minibus?. One hundred forty four passengers with ages ranging from 18 years to 63 years in the subjective evaluation and another one hundred forty four passengers with ages ranging from 18 years to 60 years in the objective evaluation participated in the study. In the subjective evaluation, passengers were asked to evaluate the dimensions and comfort of seats of minibus. Six anthropometric dimensions from one hundred forty four passengers and the dimensions of the locally fabricated seats in thirty minibuses were measured for the objective evaluation. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, fifth, fiftieth and ninety fifth percentiles for the seat dimensions and passengers’ body dimensions were calculated using Excel Microsoft Package. Moreover, the data obtained from the passenger’s body dimensions was compared with the relevant dimensions of the seats using independent samples t-test (2-tailed) and chi-square test at 95 percent level of confidence. The results showed a degree of mismatch between the passengers’ body dimensions and the seat dimensions. This may be an indication that the dimensions of locally manufactured passenger seats of minibus and passengers’ anthropometric dimensions are at variant. It was thus concluded that the anthropometric dimensions of the passengers were not employed in the design and manufacturing of the passenger seats of minibus.

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March 10, 2026

This study aims to comprehensively analyse the complex interplay between