Vehicle design has a big part to play in delighting our customers

Ray Stenning is Design Director of his company Best Impressions which specialises in providing creative services to the passenger transport industry. He has worked for over 30 years on everything from rail and bus liveries and vehicle styling to timetables and publicity and corporate identity ray@best-impressions.co.uk

Ray Stenning is Design Director of his company Best Impressions which specialises in providing creative services to the passenger transport industry. He has worked for over 30 years on everything from rail and bus liveries and vehicle styling to timetables and publicity and corporate identity ray@best-impressions.co.uk

The new Routemaster has some clever design features such as a staircase that makes a statement, and looks like something you want to climb.

The new Routemaster has some clever design features such as a staircase that makes a statement, and looks like something you want to climb.

A classic bus design from the 1960s, the BET Group standard single-decker. It was extremely clean, elegant, modern and stylish in its day.

A classic bus design from the 1960s, the BET Group standard single-decker. It was extremely clean, elegant, modern and stylish in its day.

Front and side views of the Optare Tempo SR bus Ray Stenning designed for trentbarton. The lower picture shows how the livery has been integrated with the body styling.

Front and side views of the Optare Tempo SR bus Ray Stenning designed for trentbarton. The lower picture shows how the livery has been integrated with the body styling.

Recent months have seen the arrival in London of the so-called Borismaster - the new Routemaster bus for London initiated by Mayor Boris Johnston - and the unveiling at the National Exhibition Centre in November of what could perhaps be called the Raymaster - the new bus for Nottingham, in which I have myself played a role.

It’s a restyling of the Tempo that I worked on for trentbarton and Optare. There’s also been launches of prototypes of the ‘European Bus System of the...