Have you spotted them yet?
The morning rush hour often makes the Tube a dog eat dog world, and it’s even harder on those amongst us who would benefit from having a seat – especially with priority seats often in high demand. Troublingly, a recent TfL survey found that only one in three Tube passengers believe that they should offer their seat if they’re sat in a priority seat – so they’ve elected to do something about it.
At the end of April, a new priority seat design was rolled out on the Jubilee line, to make priority seating more visible and to give clearer directions about giving them up. The new seats are an entirely different colour to the rest of the row, and feature six different messages, including ‘Please offer this seat’, ‘Someone may need this seat more’, and ‘Not all disabilities are visible’. The last is particularly relevant, given that many priority passengers might be suffering from an ailment that isn’t immediately obvious.
In conjunction with the long-running ‘Please offer me a seat’ badges, it’s hoped that the new seats will make the whole seat-shuffling dance much easier for all involved. Currently, you’ll find them on only a few Jubilee line trains, but they’ll be rolled out across the whole line in the coming months – and if they’re a real success, we’ll hopefully see them across the entire network. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for someone who might need your seat more (even if it’s not a priority seat, people), and let’s make the tube a kinder place!
Featured image: @mamomi_i
Also published on Medium.