ASTON MARTIN has won Boris Johnson’s competition to design a new Routemaster bus, Transport for London announced today.
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The manufacturer famous for its James Bond cars will split the £25,000 prize with leading architects Foster and Partners and the winning designs will now be worked up into a prototype in association with bus builders.
“The first of the new buses will be on the streets of London by 2011,” said a spokesperson for Transport for London.
The competition to come up with a new version of the old Routemaster was one of Johnson’s campaign pledges during the London Mayoral election earlier this year.
“We now have, in our joint winners, two stunning designs that allow us to go forward and produce a truly iconic bus fit for 21st Century London,” Johnson said.
The 21st century reference is to the green credentials of the new Routemaster, which will be part-powered by solar panels to achieve zero carbon emissions, while retaining the open back of its much-loved predecessor.
