Mayor unveils winning designs for Routemaster

A streamlined space-capsule bus, designed by car-maker Aston Martin and architect Lord Foster, and a Fiftiesstyle vehicle by bus designer Capoco shared the top prize.

They will each be awarded £25,000 although it was unclear whether their designs would have more than a glancing influence on the bus that ends up on London's streets.

Mr Johnson will set out the next steps in delivering his new bus during an awards ceremony in central London.

"When I launched the competition, I asked for stylish and imaginative designs which would resonate with Londoners," he said.

"We have had a phenomenal response, with ideas submitted from around the globe, and we now have, in our joint winners, two stunning designs that allow us to go forward and produce a truly iconic bus fit for 21st century London.

"I know that, like me, Londoners will be waiting eagerly to see how these ideas evolve into the final design that will appear on our roads."

The winning designs will be passed on to bus manufacturers to develop into a final design. Transport for London expects to award a contract to build the first new bus for London towards the end of next year, with the first of the vehicles on the streets by 2011.

The Mayor initially said the new Routemasters would cost £8 million to run with conductors but was later forced to admit the figure would be nearer £100 million.

Routemasters were phased out by former Mayor Ken Livingstone amid concerns about accessibility as well as safety questions over the "hop-on, hop-off" platforms.

Mr Johnson made bringing in a new generation of the popular bus a key pledge of his election campaign.

The winning design had to include an open platform to let passengers board and alight "quickly and easily", show "good use of interior space" and "accessibility", as well as including green technology and having a conductor.

The judges particularly liked the rounded rear of the Foster/Aston Martin bus, designed by Todd Hutton, and its nod to the heritage of the original Routemaster by including wooden floors.

More modern aspects included solar panels built into the glass roof -although there have been concerns this could steam up in winter and make the bus top-heavy.

The Capoco submission was praised for its technical excellence, in particular its light-weight structure and hybrid propulsion.

It also had a separate door for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The bus would seat 66 passengers with room for 14 standing, compared with 72 seats and five standing on the old Routemaster.

More than 700 entries were received for the competition.

The judges were the Mayor, his transport adviser Kulveer Ranger, Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy, TfL's head of surface transport David Brown, Clare Kavanagh and Mike Weston from London Buses and bus expert David Quainton.