Transport for London

Vision and design strategy in practice

Each year, 1.35 billion passengers spend time in London’s public transport system (TfL, no date). Valerie Shawcross, the Deputy Mayor for Transport, has announced in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy report (2018) the vision of '80 per cent of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041.' In order to achieve this vision, TfL set up strategic plans for various areas of improvement in order to make public transport more attractive and the whole city healthier (Mayor of London, 2018).

By engaging in discussions about design strategy in this week’s class I wondered if art and design play any role in the Transport for London’s (TfL) strategy. Indeed, they do!

The new Crossrail line, spreading from east to west, will add 10% to the whole network capacity and in addition create an art experience. Eight stations will show permanent art exhibitions, giving the line the name 'The Culture Line'. Leading commercial galleries support the process of selecting the work of well-known artists from all over the world that will be displayed. The providers aim at creating a new 'cultural destination for everyone to enjoy' (Morgan, no date, quoted in Crossrail Ltd, 2018) which will in the end support the overall vision to increase the attractiveness of the TfL.

London's iconic underground sign (Hinger, 2018)

The Transport for London has a long historic connection to art and design. Since the early 20th century, design has been part of its vision. Frank Pick introduced the concept of 'total design', which led to the iconic design of the underground logo and the creation of memorable station designs. Since 2000 there is a separate department, called Art on the Underground (Transport for London, no date a), that defined the vision of 'maintaining art as a central element of Transport for London’s identity and engaging passengers and staff in a sense of shared ownership' (Transport for London, no date b).

The London transport system seems to be managed by a quite huge corporation with sub-departments dealing with certain aspects of the whole system. Although there is an overall vision that is not directly linked to design, there are sub-visions that lead to inclusion of design into the strategy.

Ad for Art on the Underground in an underground station (Hinger, 2018)

Reference List:

TfL (no date) Facts & figures. Available at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/what-we-do/london-underground/facts-and-figures (Accessed: 30 October 2018).

Mayor of London (2018) Mayor’s Transport Strategy. Available at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/our-vision-transport/mayors-transport-strategy-2018?intcmp=46686 (Accessed: 20 October 2018).

Crossrail Ltd (2018) Transforming transport into global iconic art. Available at: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/transforming-transport-into-global-iconic-art (Accessed on 30 October 2018).

Transport for London (no date a) History. Available at: https://art.tfl.gov.uk/about/history/ (Accessed on 30 October 2018).

Transport for London (no date b) About us. Available at: https://art.tfl.gov.uk/about/overview/ (Accessed on 30 October 2018).