One thing we're good at designing in the UK is taxis. Compared to our wonderful black cabs the others fall at the first fence - New York's yellow cabs have little room for baggage and Paris's absurd 'three passengers per cab' rule drives you crazy.
Another thing that we used to be good at is buses and now I think our moment may have come again in the form of an electric Routemaster double decker bus. OK, it's only a concept, but with Boris Johnson lording it as London Mayor maybe it'll get a chance at reality. Anyway it's such a good design for an EV that it's definitely worth a look.
Anyone who's ever rode on the open rear platform of a Routemaster will cherish the memory of that feeling as you hang out nonchalantly to drop off just when you please while it's still moving. Talk about instant street cred ... Health & Safety would have a fit nowadays.
Indulge yourself by taking a look at this faberoony electric bus design that was the result of a collaboration between Aston Martin and Foster + Partners which won joint first prize in a competition to design a new bus for London. As the website puts it, they worked together to 'challenge preconceptions of bus design with a vehicle that is environmentally sensitive, accessible, convivial and reinvents a much-loved symbol of London for the Modern era.'
Among its myriad of special features are in-wheel motors which allow a lower floor and therefore improved accessibility as well as improving its turning radius by 10%. It also features panoramic views including a glazed see-through roof with solar panels, a side door for wheelchair access, the inevitable CCTV (it's the UK after all, CCTV capital of the world), radio contact between driver and on-board conductor - remember those? How wonderful to have bus conductors again! The lower deck has even been upholstered in reconstituted leather to give a "saloon-like feel" - or like Starbucks, depending on your experience.
Architect designer Lord Foster says, "Our design seeks to combine contemporary innovation with timelessness. Like the original Routemaster - which was ahead of its time and consequently endured - a new bus for London should establish a whole new travel experience that espouses 21st century aspirations, while celebrating the memory and the experience of the original." Well said, your lordship. If anything could persuade people to leave their car at home and take the bus, this is definitely it.
Transport for London reports that bus manufacturers are using this design and the other joint winner by Capoco (not electric) as bases for production proposals and the first prototype could be on the streets by 2011.
By the way, this design has been out since Dec 2008, but I felt it was still worth sharing with EV World which doesn't always follow what's happening in the UK.
