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The Routemaster with a smile
Amar Singh13.10.08
A RADICAL new Routemaster-style bus for London is revealed today with a "smile" at the front, U-shaped seating and television screens.
The H4 is one of several entries for Boris Johnson's design competition to find a new version of the traditional bus.
The Mayor has pledged to get rid of largely unpopular bendy buses and replace them with "a modern Routemaster for the 21st century".
A team of 10 designers in London and Nanjing, China, spent more than a month designing a model that would combine the best elements of the classic hop on, hop off vehicle with the latest technology.
Guy Middleton, managing director of H4, which has also revamped the Royal Festival Hall and office complexes in Dubai, said: "The first thing you notice is the smile at the front. It's just a small touch we added to make the bus more pleasing to ride.
"We have centred the driver's cab, which would not only improve his peripheral vision but also make the buses easier to export to other countries."
The upper and lower deck have TV screens visible to each passenger as well as air-conditioning and heating.
Mr Middleton added: "The TV screens are a possible revenue earner, as they could advertise local businesses close to where people are alighting, as well as flash the latest headlines and travel information. The U-shaped seating will create more leg room for passengers, and there will be just one unobstructed aisle on each deck which will benefit the conductor.
"We also feel that anti-social behaviour would decrease when people are facing each other."
The bus would have full disabled access and the seats would be made with a flexible mesh that does not collect dust or dirt.
Last week, a glass-roofed Routemaster designed by Foster & Partners was revealed, promising to give passengers an uninterrupted view of the capital.
But Mr Middleton said a glass roof would cause too many problems. "It would make the upper deck unbearably hot in the summer, while it could steam up and even drip in the winter. What' we've come up with is a cost effective and very sleek Routemaster and we want to win it."
Reader views (9)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
What will people hold on to when they want to get up from their seat by the window? The bus will be moving, people's feet and bags will block the central space between the seats, making it awkward to stand up and move to press the buzzer to stop the bus. Far better to have all seats facing the front, with buzzers on each hand rail, and poles at the end of each row so that people will stand up, hold onto a pole then move along to exit the bus.
This bus has been designed by people who don't use them! Scrap the TVs, the heating and air-conditioning, and replace with windows which can be opened, more poles and handles to hold onto, and numerous buzzers.
- Maria Groffe, London UK
The exterior of the bus looks like something post man pat would drive and the interior looks like it belongs in the 70’s – very dated and not in a fashionable way.
- Laki Begum, London
Clearly not a serious entry. Just a bunch of people taking the mickey out of the competition I suspect. How long is that wheelbase? Won't go round corners like a bendy bus and would be a real cyclist killer as there would be massive blinds spots for the driver to deal with. Cretins.
- Ned The Bus, Busnedland
If you have windows that open, you don't need aircon. And television screens are an IMPROVEMENT!!!??????
- Grumpy Old Bat, London
Nothng worse than facing seats, especially with yobbos with their feet on them. A classic example of theory being useless without reality
- Robert Stevens, Holborn, Middlesex, WC1
Once again designers with no common sense.
A survey carried out on the trains revealed that passengers disliked bays of 3 seats and traveling facing other passengers, so it is more than likely that the same will apply with buses.
The bays of seats would promote anti-social behavior, not reduce it, by creating little bays where groups can huddle around their pitiful little phone speakers, put their feet on the opposite seats etc.
There appears to be insufficient space to accommodate wheelchairs and pushchairs once they board through the accessible door.
TV screens, well that is just something to draw even more power, be vandalized and annoy the traveling public.
As Stella says above, the designers should go and actually travel on a bus to discover what is really required.
- C Gregory, London
Artic buses have a capacity for 140 passengers and nearly 100 are required to operate both routes 38 and 73. You report this bus has a capacity of 73 which means you would need nearly 200 buses to operate both the above routes. How much congestion and at what cost in manpower given the current £30k claim by Unite would these dinky buses require, especially if conductors have to be employed?.
The reality is this competition is a waste of money given that on trams can provide the capacity needed on artic routes but Boris chooses the squander money on a bus type that has no relevance when around 95% of passengers have prepaid. Your video may show someone entering at the front and leaving at the rear open platform, the reality is people would enter at the back to try and avoid paying let alone the danger open platforms present in an era of motor bikes in bus lanes and what danger is their of thieves on the platform?
This design might work in a sleepy hollow but given the millions of passengers on artic routes it just represents hollow thinking. Just stand at the Angel, Islington at watch how artics swallow the crowds in seconds compared to the single entrance double-deckers.
London needs Trams not 200 bus jams!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
I was dismayed to see the design for the new Routemaster bus and am now convinced that London buses are designed by people who never actually travel on a bus. There is nothing worse than being jammed onto a packed bus being forced to rub knees with whatever spotty oick ends up sitting opposite you. Where there are empty seats you will always find someone sitting with their feet up on the facing seat. The design of the new bus gives 2 impractical corner seats in each group - how do they expect people to fit into that ridiculously cramped space? And having long stretches of seats will encourage the more anti-social of us to treat them like loungers and just stretch out on them with feet up everywhere.
I note that there are also very few handrails - the space between the uprights shown are too far apart to offer much support and for passengers trying to get up from the window seats on a crowded bus there is nothing to hold onto. Passengers will be find themselves falling over the other passengers in an effort to reach the aisle. The upstairs seats all appear to be facing each other so again, feet on seats. Also, it is not always comfortable facing the opposite direction in which you are travelling, forcing you to crane your neck in order to see if you have missed your stop.I would suggest that the 10 designers travel on current London buses and talk to real passengers and then go back to the drawing board.
Good news on the return of the conductor though!
- Stella Spilling, London
It might look OK on the TV with Thomas the tank engine or in children's book, but not on the streets of London,or anywhere else. Let's have a bus designed by real bus designers and not by kids book illustrators. I suppose it speaks as well !
- Terry Myers, Winchelsea Beach UK
