TFL’s new interactive bus map for Londoners

Transport for London have released their all-new interactive bus map, and we’re feeling the love.

Transport for London have released their all-new interactive bus map, and we’re feeling the love.

If you’re stuck in your office and fed up looking out at the car park, then why not take a virtual trip along the great Trans Siberian Railway?
Thanks to some clever Googlery, you can ride the whole length of the line from Moscow to Vladivostok and watch the countryside roll by as the train embarks on its titanic journey across two continents, 12 regions and 87 cities.

London-based design and innovation company Seymourpowell has whizzed up an incredible vision of a giant, elegant ‘clipper in the clouds’ airship that’s got us scrambling for our passports and monogrammed leather luggage.

Boy, do we want this thing. NASA has slapped up a YouTube video of their amazing Puffin personal aircraft: a mean, lean, hover-capable, electric-powered, super-quiet personal VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) flying machine.
Sadly, we’re only getting a computer generated animation of the aircraft at this stage, but the concept seems sound with the Puffin cleverly splitting its tail into four pieces to serve as landing gear, with flaps on the wings keeping the aircraft stable as it lifts and descends.
There’s been loads of attempts to create practical flying cars, but most of them have ended up as unholy bodges that made the Titanic seem a more agreeable transport option.
The Transition Roadable Aircraft hopes to change all that, offering a convertible car/plane combo, that can be made ready for a spin around the skies in just 30 seconds – about the same time as some standard convertible cars need to add a roof.
Ken got rid of them and Boris is bringing them back, and according to TfL’s press release, the Routemaster bus will soon be gracing London’s streets sooner than we might think.
Wrightbus have been awarded the contract to design and build the new Routemaster, and although details are scarce, the London reconnections site has highlighted some of the major points:

Trance bands are always banging on about ‘taking you higher’, but a UK outfit are looking to go higher than any other fluoro-donning, repetitive-beat churning DJs have ever been before, asking Richard Branson if they can supply the background music for Virgin Galactic’s first passenger trip.
The Blackburn Fleabike bike lamp takes portability to a whole new level, coming in a package so small that it initially prompted suggestions that it may have fallen out of a Christmas cracker.
Charged via a magnetic USB attachment which sticks to base of light and then slots into a USB port 1.1 or 2.0, the light flashes brighter as it charges up, with a full charge taking just 25 minutes.
So we’re at Brixton tube station. And we’re late for a meeting.
We rock up to the gates, slam down our Oyster card on the reader only to be greeted with a high pitched squeaking and a sign saying, “Seek Assistance.”
Anyone’s who been using Oyster cards for some time will realise that these little moments make up the joy of having a contactless ticketing system.
UK online train ticket vendors, the trainline, have released a freebie iPhone app for travellin’ folks needing access to “train information anywhere, anytime”.
The app for the iPhone and iPod Touch lets users view rail times and journey information for all national routes, with timetable information updated daily.
Using the iPhone’s location services, the nearest station can also be located from a list or on a map, with the “Plan Journey” option taking you to thetrainline’s website to buy cheap (ish) tickets.

Amphibious cars always seem like a great idea on paper but never really cut it in the real world, invariably coming over as an uncomfortable neither fish nor fowl botch-job.
Hoping to convert a few sea-loving drivers is the slightly preposterous Corvette-Powered Python, which is billed as the Fastest Amphibious Vehicle Ever.
When we saw the title of the press release we thought we’d be in for the kind of hairdryer powered, multi-mirrored scooter you’d see being frantically driven around by a Purple Hearts-quaffin’, pork pie hat-totin, parka wearin’ mod.

We certainly weren’t expecting to see a set of non-motorised wheels, with the Lambretta Bicicletta turning out to be a humble push bike.
Now we love gadgets and gizmos like Oliver Reed liked to quaff yards of ale, but sometimes the quickest answer to a question can be found by more low tech means.

For example, the guys at Visual Motive pondered over the thorny question of whether you’d be better off walking instead of taking the bus.
Construction is due to start next year on what will become the world’s longest marine causeway, measuring up at a massive 13 miles long.

The monster bridge will connect Qatar and Bahrain, with the project costing an estimated $3 billion, which is an awful lot of wonga.
Meet the Honda U3-X, the curious new personal mobility device from the Japanese car maker.

Looking more like a mutant stereo than a funky new transporter, the one-person unicycle-like scooter is designed for pootling around the office, getting around the house (who lives in a house that big?!) and for scooting along pavements, while laughing and pointing and sweaty walkers.
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