Related Sections: Art & Design Future Tech Galleries Green Tech Vehicles
Amazing concept bus reinvents London's famous double-deckers for the 21st century
Those iconic double-decker Routemaster busses are disappearing from London streets, now running on only a few "heritage routes" in the city. Industrial Designer Hugh Frost wants to bring back a similar bus with this radical idea he calls Freight*BUS, streamlining the top-heavy conveyances while vaguely suggesting their original shape.
The electric bus has a motor in each wheel like many electric car designs do, and each wheel can turn sideways for crab-like parking. Adding to the versatility are its ceiling-suspended seats, which can be moved out of the way for cargo hauling (hence the name Freight*BUS), or to cram more people into the bus, Japanese-style. Nice, but somehow this design loses the charm of the traditional London bus. See the gallery for a detailed look.
 |  |
|
Via Tuvie
By Triplet at 4:28 PM ON 12/12/08
I disagree. I think this concept still carries the charm while also extremely modernizing it.
By budgethero at 5:49 PM ON 12/12/08
i agree with triplet. it looks a bit insidious, but still, i always thought the double decker was cool cause it carried more people.
By jeff at 10:00 PM ON 12/12/08
Looks like the robot transport truck from I-Robot.
By Shaun at 2:45 PM ON 12/13/08
"Looks like the robot transport truck from I-Robot."
You ever *been* a London commuter? If you have you'll appreciate the intrinsic irony here...
By Scorpius at 4:40 AM ON 12/14/08
Looks like the Guild navigator transport from David Lynch's "Dune"
By tentaro at 10:13 AM ON 12/18/08
Yeah it looks cool and all but it's missing something that always made the buses cool for me....the open top. That was the whole point of that bus for me so this design, while looking kinda cool destroys the charm of the double decker.
By eon at 3:46 PM ON 12/18/08
Possibly inspired by the Rolling Stones' tour bus?
cheers
eon
By Beedo at 2:50 PM ON 12/19/08
Wow. That's so art-deco-y, it's almost unbearably cool. It even looks like it could fly around Coruscant. The seats look a little too pointy and dangerous in the current design, though. And it doesn't look like it has much ground clearance, either. If it hits just one speed bump (or even a small rat), it'd be high and dry and waiting for a tow.
And if those things ever made it to production, I'm sure they'd turn out a topless model eventually, too.
By Klugeet at 12:56 AM ON 01/25/09
remember Beedo, the seats are just a concept, most likely made with a straight edge and a pencil, they're gonna look pointy
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
Klugeet:
remember Beedo, the seats are just a concept, most likely made with a straight edge and a pencil, they're gonna loo...More »