Oxford Street Pedestrianisation Forces Removal of 12 Bus Shelters, Digital Panels Stay
2026-10-26 · via DailyDOOH
Oxford Street in London became traffic-free on Monday October 26, 2026, along a roughly 1km stretch between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street. The move, driven by the Mayor of London as part of a plan to "regenerate one of London's most iconic retail destinations," has immediate consequences for the out-of-home advertising infrastructure that lines the street.
Transport for London has no choice but to remove 12 bus shelters inside the newly pedestrianised zone, with removal expected to be complete by November 30, according to DailyDOOH. For operators and advertisers, the more important detail is what happens to the digital advertising panels attached to those shelters.
According to the report, the panels themselves are separate structures from the shelters, so all 12 will remain in place as free-standing units rather than being taken down along with the bus infrastructure. That matters for anyone buying or selling inventory on the street: the removal of the shelters does not mean a loss of digital OOH faces in one of London's highest-footfall retail corridors.
The physical removal work is being carried out overnight while the screens are switched off, which DailyDOOH reports means no impact on the advertising displays themselves during the transition. There is no mention in the source of any disruption to ad bookings, revenue, or campaign delivery during the works.
Background on the network
The screens in question are part of a network JCDecaux first digitised in May 2016, when it launched 50 double-sided digital 6-sheet screens at bus shelters along Oxford Street. The pedestrianisation affects only the panels within the roughly 1km closed section, not the wider network across the street.
What the announcement does not say is what the replacement free-standing units will look like, whether their specifications or sizes will change once separated from shelter structures, or what the City of London or JCDecaux plan long-term for advertising placement as the pedestrianisation programme continues. DailyDOOH says it will publish images of the new units once they become available.
For digital signage and DOOH operators watching other cities debate pedestrianisation of major retail streets, Oxford Street is a useful test case: it shows that removing street furniture like bus shelters does not automatically mean losing digital ad inventory, provided the panels are engineered as separate structures from the furniture they were originally paired with.
The announcement in full
Reproduced from DailyDOOH for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.
In London today, Monday October 26, 2026, Oxford Street has, somewhat controversially, become traffic-free for an almost 1km stretch between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street.
The change, pushed through by the Mayor of London is supposedly the start of a longer-term programme to, we quote “regenerate one of London’s most iconic retail destinations” .
This of course has an impact on Out of Home advertising in the area and as part of the transition, Transport for London (TfL) has no choice but to remove the 12 bus shelters within the pedestrianised zone (by November 30 we believe).
However, as the advertising panels themselves are separate from the shelters it seems that all 12 advertising panels will remain in place as free-standing units.
The removal works are taking place overnight while the screens are switched off, meaning no impact to the advertising displays at all.
We will have pictures of the new units as soon as they are available.
JCDecaux launched its digitisation of Oxford Street with 50 double-sided digital 6-sheet sized screens at bus shelters back in May 2016 .
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