No matter how many subway lines, buses, trams, trains, and other public conveyances¹ we ride, we are rarely left with a positive impression of the upholstery. How does this happen?

无论我们坐多少次地铁、公交车、电车、火车和其它公共运输工具，我们很少会对垫衬套留下一个好的印象。这是为什么呢？

Excuse 1: The design constraints².

理由之一：设计限制。

We ask a lot of transport fabric³. It has to be durable⁴, since each seat will cradle hundreds of backsides a day. It has to last for years, be easy to clean, and it has to be able to resist or disguise stains both accidental and vandalistic. It must also seem clean, even when it's not. Perhaps most important, it has to be safe: Fire, smoke, and smolder⁵ can be deadly, particularly dozens of feet underground in a poorly ventilated tunnel.

我们需要大量用于交通的布料。它必须得耐用，因为每一个座位一天之内会有很多人去坐。它必须得能够用上很多年，易于打扫，并且必须得能够抵抗或者是掩盖无意或有意留下的污点。它还必须得看起来干净，即使是并非如此。也许最为重要的是，它必须得安全：火、烟和闷烧是致命性的，尤其是在地下几英尺、通风条件较差的隧道里。

Excuse 2: The design process.

理由之二：设计流程。

A design for a new railway coach is a tremendous get for a design firm like Wallace Sewell, but an updated Tube coach isn't the central assignment for a transport textile designer. Instead, most designers are working on branding for private coach companies or on small municipal lines. There, design as a civic⁶ good may not be the highest priority.

对于像华莱士·休厄尔这样的设计公司来说，设计一种新的铁路客车可以带来巨大收益，但是更新地铁并非交通纺织品设计师的核心任务。反而，大多数设计者在为民营长途公交公司或小型市政客运线的品牌推广工作。在这里，利于公民的设计可能就不是优先考虑的事情了。

Excuse 3: Fashion is fickle⁷.

理由之三：时尚是变化无常的。

"It's a trend industry now," says Newton. Transport fabrics⁸ follow fashion just like any other designed commodity, with big name artists and textile designers fighting to create the next classic moquette. But when fashion trends are less understated, so too is the design of your subway seat back.

牛顿表示，"现在这是一个时尚产业"。跟任何其它设计的产品一样，运输纺织品也会紧随潮流，大名鼎鼎的艺术家和纺织品设计师努力去创造下一个经典的针织地毯。但是，当流行趋势惹人注目时，地铁的座椅靠背的设计也会紧随潮流。