Morning:
8°c
Routemaster with a SatNav (not for the driver ... for passengers)
Benedict Moore-Bridger and Katharine Barney22.10.08
ANOTHER new design for a Routemaster-style bus was unveiled today complete with onboard SatNav for passengers to plan their journeys.
Paresh Chandegra says his concept, the 21st-Century Routemaster, will update the classic vehicle with a digital navigating screen.
The bus has double sliding doors at the front, but the hop-on hop-off feature of the old Routemaster at the back.
Mr Chandegra's design is one of 225 put forward after Mayor Boris Johnson launched a competition to find a successor to the Routemaster. The classic vehicle was withdrawn by Ken Livingstone, but Mr Johnson has pledged to revive it. The contest winner will receive £25,000.
Mr Chandegra, a 27-year-old architect from Ilford, has no previous experience in vehicle design. But he said his east London upbringing inspired him to enter the competition: "I have a great appreciation for the city and the icons that make it up.
"Like New York has its yellow taxis, London has its red double-deckers. The old Routemaster was always in the background of holiday photos as proof of that person having been to London. There was something magical about it and I hope to bring some of the magic back in my 21st-Century Routemaster."
His vehicle has an efficient seating layout, with 54 on the upper deck and 38 on the lower deck. Mr Chandegra, who works for international design firm NBBJ, said he hoped the navigation feature would transform bus travel: "The problem with buses are that unlike the Underground there are many stops for each area. This can cause you to be unsure of where to get off.
"The screen uses satellite navigation technology and displays the bus as a marker moving through a digital map showing you the immediate local area with road names."
He has several rivals for the prize, including the e21 by German designer Michael Kerz, with a glass roof and optional solar panels; the H4, with U-shaped seating and TV screens; and a design by Foster and Partners.
Competition judges are due to meet this week, with the winner announced next month. But London Assembly members have called for a consultation period to allow Londoners to have their say. Liberal Democrat Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said: "It's good the Mayor received so many entries, but how many are realistic and viable?
"What worries me is when will the actual users of the buses, and indeed all of London's road users, ever get to have their say?"
Reader views (19)
The beauty of this design is that it marries a modern design style with the iconic retro-styling of the original Routemaster bus. Why bring back the 'Routemaster' for it to look completely modern and different without acknowledging the wonderful looks of the old RMs? We already have hundreds of 'modern' double decker buses...none of them are as beautiful as the old RM. This design certainly is!
- Mike Oxhard, London
Personally I think this is an uninspiring attempt, I hoped for a futuristic thought provoking idea however it looks like the old style London bus but with softer lines. Hardly ground breaking.
- Laura Docherty, leeds
Having just returned from a holiday in San Francisco where they have Trolley Buses, Street Cars (Trams). I can't think of anything better that bringing back Trolley Buses. If they can cope with the roads & hills in San Francisco they can sure cope with the roads in London. Certainly, as well, bring more trams into action, of cause where the roads are wide enough.
- Jonathan Huck, London, UK
An interesting design. However the first Routemaster went on the drawing board with an option for an all electric trolleybus version. Sadly in the event diesel Routemasters replaced two thousand fast, silent and exhaust free London trolleybuses. Please do not repeat this mistake the new Routemaster should have an all electric option that makes it to the production line.
Please do not confuse electric trolleybuses with trams the former are far more numerous in the World and much better suited to London's streets than rail bound trams.
- Mark, Bournemouth England
Have any cyclists been killed by bendy buses? How many by HGV's? We use one as an argument to remove one type of vehicle from the road but in the other case we blame the cyclists.
The case for removing the bendy buses relies solely on emotion, whilst the case against is based on studies undertaken by the relevant transport authorities. I'm glad we're looking at this objectively.
- Adam, London
When are people going to realise you wouldn't get planning permission for a bunglow in central London you need to use hight, bendy buses are plain stupid blocking junctions and killing cyclists (I'm no great fan of bikes but my friend was left for dead by one of these buses the driver did not even realise he had hit her), any double decker makes more sense than buses that were designed to go on German Autobans
- Sharon, Hackney
Very slick! Best design I've seen so far, could be on to a winner!
- Myke, London
On all these designs I am yet to see where the Oyster Card reader will be located? Although some dotty idea that these cards will be replaced by phone systems in 2010 have arisen.
I suggest very busy routes are operated with capacity for 150 passengers (bus) or 200 (Tram) be single deck and have 3 doors thus allowing rapid boarding and alighting thus reducing the time the bus takes for each trip.
The benefit of my suggestion is these buses already operate all over the world and are available of the shelf some even operate in cities with streets much narrower and twister than anywhere in London.
My only improvement would be the addition of trolley-poles and overhead wiring thus removing all pollution at source.
(Ps Perhaps I better move to London and apply to be mayor in 2012?)
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
I'm confused. Surely Ken introduced bendy-mercs because the Germans had made their models the new EU standard - single decks and no open access.
BoJo is having a laff; when the winner is announced he'll then declare that the Euros have stopped him spending the money, and we'll be no further forward but he'll be chest-deep in kudos for free.
- Andrew, London
How the hell does he cram 54 seats onto the thing upstairs? It'll be ridiculously long or ridiculously cramped.
Anyone else find it odd how these things 'leak' to the press every few days? Clue: these are the *losers*.
In other news, Boris has accepted that bendy buses don't squish cyclists.
- Tom, London
Where as certain areas of the design need slight tweaking i think the overall look of the bus is pleasing with fresh lines to give the old style features a cleaner look. While i agree in principle with what others have said about ventilation, we do have to remind ourselves that while wind down windows would be nice they have to deal with a lot of wear and tear and no one wants to sit at the front of a bus on a cold day(we have more of those than hot and stuffy summers) with the wind blowing in there face constantly due to a broken window.
The idea of a sat nav for passengers is another feature i think is good but could be do in a simpler way.
All in all, i think it has the right sort of ideas and is in the direction we want to go.
- Steven, London, E15, UK
A great retro look that merges the old with the new. The hop on hop off ideas was always best as it prevented a squish of people every time someone gets on or off - as is the case with the current double decker buses.
- Vision Aforethought, Oxford & London, England
Yet another design conspicuously lacking wind-down windows at the front. So it'll need fuel-wasting air-con, or will be insufferably hot and stuffy in summer. Air forced in through the front by the bus's motion is by far the easiest and most reliable way to keep a bus comfortable up top.
- Nigel, London
The Routemaster became one of London's iconic emblems in large part because of its visual design. The double decks and hop on platform are practical features which responded brilliantly to inner city constraints. Once you tamper with the Routemaster's recognised visual features, you lose the icon.
The characterless, user-unfriendly, underpowered boxes that trundle our streets today have no hope of attaining iconic status. New designs should either leave the Routemaster's basic visual design unchanged, while improving operational performance and passenger comfort, or introduce something different that respects the principles of good design. What we've seen so far is not very inspiring.
- R. Goodacre, London SW15
All these designs seem to have a huge reliance on technology which is expensive, requires extra maintenance and is also heavy. In these lean times, perhaps we should drop the hubris of gadgetry and focus on designs that make use of natural airflows instead of air conditioning, and use a printed map instead of LCD displays! We want these things to last another 40 years!
- J Fitzpatrick, London
SatNav for passengers is a fantastic idea.
The bus is a great design..
- Dipesh, London, UK.
A great design. I hope there is somewhere to put my shopping.
- Matt, London, UK
Here's a good idea: why not just re-introduce the original one, but with a cleaner engine? That will save squillions on design studies and we could have them running by January.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
Where is the picture then? is this the invisible bus!
- Max, London
