David Williams: how London has kept moving with the times

Green future: Regent Street Motor Show
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Anyone with even a passing interest in how Londoners have travelled around their great city over the years should get along to a spectacular, free display on Sunday July 3.

It’s when Regent Street will be transformed into an exhibition of transport designs mounted by Transport for London (TfL) and the London Transport Museum (LTM).

The Transported by Design festival (#tbdfest) celebrates the designs that have kept London on the move from Victorian times right up to the present day, and gives visitors a glimpse of what the future holds in store, too. The festival will stretch between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus Tube stations, and is part of Summer Streets, which sees Regent Street go traffic-free every Sunday in July.

Regent Street will be divided into three zones — past, present and future — showcasing the best in transport-inspired design, with different activities. Visitors will be invited to start their journey by exploring the legacy of design from the early 19th century onward including a horse-drawn bus and heritage buses, while having a look at a 1927 Tube train carriage and viewing an exhibition of classic advertising posters and signage. By the time you make it to the present day it will, of course, look more familiar, with Cycle Spin Fun hosted by Santander Cycles. Also in the present will be Moquette Land — a showcase of the fabric used across the public transport network — while there will be a Design a Bus kids competition. You can explore the designs of stations, taxis, buses, trains, Tubes and more.

When you step into the London 2040 future zone, say the organisers, you will be able to see, hear and feel what transport could look like through the medium of sensory cinema, and by trying virtual reality headsets. There will be, they say, TED-style talks on technology and design throughout the day. Free family activities will also be laid on, alongside food and drink.

“Good design in transport has been central to this, ranging from vehicles, stations, signs and maps to the Oyster card, our website and open data feeds,” says Mike Brown, London’s transport commissioner. “It will offer something for everyone, whether you’re a family, transport or design enthusiast.”

Sam Mullins, director of LTM, says: “The Transported by Design festival will be a celebration of the amazing design heritage of London’s transport network, as well as a great showcase of what might come in the future.”

A key feature of the programme, running from midday to 6pm, is a new 11-month exhibition at LTM, exploring how design is encountered in everyday journeys and how this has evolved over the past century.

Will Regent Street host the clean, green, electric, hydrogen-powered and self-driving cars the motor industry is working on? Yes... and no. You will have to wait until the Royal Automobile Club has its own display in the street on November 5.

For more on the festival on July 3, visit tfl.gov.uk/transportedbydesign

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