Priority seats redesigned for London transport

The priority seats have been redesigned to have a greater colour contrast

Priority seats on London's buses and Underground will be more clearly labelled, Transport for London (TfL) has said.

The transport body has redesigned its seating to have a greater colour contrast and with "This is a priority seat" signs on them.

It will be added to new DLR and Piccadilly trains, as well as on refurbished Central and Waterloo and City line trains.

Seb Dance, deputy mayor for transport, is also asking Londoners to offer their seat to "those who may need it more than them".

'Being mindful'

TfL has said some customers who need to sit down may not always have a "please offer me a seat" badge or Sunflower lanyard.

It said its new seat design matched the appearance of "please offer me a seat" badges and the Government's Blue Badge scheme, and aligned with the priority seating design already in place on the Jubilee line.

Allison Peter, deputy chair of TfL's independent Disability Advisory Group, said: "Priority seats are essential for many disabled people, including those with non-visible conditions, as well as older people. They play a vital role in enabling people to travel with confidence and stay connected in London.

"By looking up, offering our seat, and being mindful of non-visible disabilities, we can help to make public transport more accessible and inclusive."

The deputy mayor for transport asked people to offer their seat to "those who may need it more"

Previous TfL research looked at how likely people were to get a priority seat if they needed one.

It found that while many people who needed a seat got one, it was not always clear when someone needed a priority seat and people were not always paying attention to their surroundings to notice if someone needed a seat.

More than 152,000 free "please offer me a seat" badges have been issued since 2017.

They can be used by people with a broad range of disabilities and conditions including chronic pain, respiratory conditions and diabetes, learning disabilities, autism, other forms of neurodivergence and mental health conditions.