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When London Transport Museum opens its doors to the public on Thursday, a new section will make green geeks join the trainspotters and tube-upholstery fans as some of the first visitors. The interactive spaces, Coming Soon to London and London 2055, are dedicated to the future of sustainable urban mobility.
SmartPlanet went along to a preview event and our guided tour gave us fuel for thought. From horse trams through to underground steam trains and today's hybrid buses it was fascinating to see how London’s public transport system has developed from something poisonous and polluting (the sulphurous smoke from coal-fuelled trains) to something we praise as one of the greenest modes of travelling today. Perhaps not surprisingly, our favourite part was the London 2055 exhibition, which is part of the Green Futures section.
Inspired by a report from the Government's Foresight Programme, London 2055 explores how our lifestyles and the development of public transport affect each other. Focusing on congestion, population growth and climate change, the exhibit looks at four different possible scenarios for what London might be like fifty years from now: Always On (a computer society where people get scared of turning off), Carbon Controlled (we cut our carbon consumption drastically), Local Living (we live in urban colonies and travel very little) and Energy Shock (we adapt to living without oil).
The idea is that we, the visitors, can enter our lifestyle and travelling habits into a computer program, which will then show us what 'our London' would be like in 2055 based on our choices. If we all go for the Carbon Controlled scenario, the program predicts that 80 per cent of Londoners will walk or cycle to work in 2055. So long, overcrowded tubes and bendy-buses!
Claire Ingham, head of marketing and development at London Transport Museum, told SmartPlanet: "We wanted to take an intelligent approach to the future of public transport by not only explaining to visitors what major challenges face our urban society, but also explaining that the changes visitors can make to the way they live and travel will work to create a more sustainable London fifty years from now. I hope this exhibit will empower people with the belief that their small actions will make a difference."
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