A display of some of the 60 new mini Boris Buses took place in central London this morning causing more than a few heads to turn and people to point and giggle at the sight.
The New New Routemasters will be deployed across London as part of the celebrations to mark the Year of the Bus.
They will however not carry passengers — as they are static models of buses, that have been decorated by artists ahead of being sold to raise money for charity. The collection of 60 bus sculptures will be placed across London on four walking trails as part of the Year of the Bus Sculpture Trail. The first three trails will be installed from Monday 20 October with a fourth following in time for Christmas.
The walking trails – the first three of which are “around Westminster”, “around the River” and “around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park” – are being delivered with creative events company Wild in Art. The fourth trail will be in Croydon.
The sculptures will be brought together in a final display at the end of the project before being auctioned, with all proceeds split between Kids Company, Transaid and London Transport Museum.
Bus map style decoration spells out “London takes the bus”
Showing off the new buses in Trafalgar Square
Old ticket stubs on the New Bus for London
Clustering together
The bus that jumped Tower Bridge
Pop art
We’d prefer you to walk
Buckingham Palace gets the bus makeover
If only teens on buses had to use these instead of mobile phones.
Flower Power — the new fuel for London buses?
The instruction not to climb sits ill at ease with this anarchistic design.
The top is furry.
One of two war-themed buses.
Two Big Bens (or Elizabeth Tower’s for the pedants)
Coincidental line up
A blue cock on a Boris Bus.
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What are the QR codes for? I saw a similar project recently where there was a special app, and scanning the QR code ticked off the sculpture in the checklist. It was a good incentive to try and find as many as possible.
@Adrian – there is an app for the sculpture trails. Serach; Bus Art: Year of the Bus Sculpture Trails
Thanks Rhys. Looks like you have to be quite specific in what you search for. And looks like an identical app to what I saw before in Aberdeen
Probably have to wait as long for one of these to arrive as the rest of the TFL fleet
How much and when are they auctioned and how can we bid