New TFL campaign urges tube passengers to look up from phones

A new Transport for London campaign has been launched to convince passengers to look up from their phones and give up their seats for those who may need it more. It comes after a Londoner's social media post went viral.

Pregnant and disabled Londoners are growing incredibly fed up with physically fit commuters zoning out on their phones instead of checking if someone else needs the seat. One of those is Lucy Baker, who made apost on LinkedIn which went viral.

Now, her call for better signage on the floors of the tubehas caught TFL's attention. She said: "People don't seem to be giving up their seats for pregnant or disabled people. Not because they aren't kind. More often, they're just staring down at their phones."

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She continued: "The signage should urge commuters to look up from their devices and see what is going on around them. How about instead of those signs by the doors - above seating eye-level - you plonk a nice notice on the floor?"

TfL annoubnced the roll-out a trial of Look Up stickerson the Docklands Light Railway earlier this year after Lucy's post. Now, after seeing how well it has been received, Lucy wants them to extend the initiative — and it looks like TFL are considering it.

To encourage a London-wide implementation, she launched a parody video in what is a remake of Adam Kay's iconic London Underground song. Similar to the tune of The Jam's Going Underground, Lucy sings: "Some people need to get to work, but some people on the tube are just jerks. Some people don't offer up their seats to pregnant people in the heat."

This move has been welcomed by pregnant passengers who are fed up with carrying baby weight, and the consequential joint pain and other invisible effects, on their journeys. Eliza Peacock, who is eight months pregnant, said: "I've been in situations where I, as a pregnant woman, gave up my seat to a more heavily pregnant woman because nobody else would look up from their phones.

"It's definitely time for the signage to appear across all tube carriages to ensure more people pay attention to those in more need of seating, especially during weeks where the trains are more rammed than ever before owing to strikes."

Commuter chaos hit the London Underground after a series of RMT strikes took place over pay and working conditions. The walkouts, which included drivers, signallers and maintenance workers, lasted from September 7 until September 11 with the effects bringing disruption to millions of passengers.

London artist Michelle Baharier said: "This is a problem disabled people face every day. Just this morning I got on a very full train and wanted to sit down. I have an Invisible disability, which affects my spine causing pain and immobility and it is so exasperating having look someone in the eye, or gently tap them to ask them for a seat.

"And I certainly don’t want to chuck another invisibly impaired person out of their space! If people could just look up once in a while, it might make commuting much more comfortable for other passengers."