Guo – MIND THE MAP! 2011

Description

This paper examines how schematic transit maps influence passengers’ travel decisions, proposing a framework that identifies four types of map-delivered information—distortion, restoration, codification, and cognition—and their effects on location, mode, and path choices. Using London Underground data (1998–2005) and a path-choice model for 18,894 trips, the study operationalizes map effects as map distance and transfer codification, comparing these to actual travel time. Results show map distance has twice the elasticity of travel time, indicating passengers often rely on the distorted schematic map over personal experience when choosing routes, even if those routes are longer in reality. The way transfers are depicted (dot versus link) also shapes transfer behavior. The paper discusses implications for transit planning and operations, including trip assignment, overcrowding mitigation, and the design of information systems (ATIS), and highlights that perceived disutilities (e.g., in-vehicle and transfer walking times) influence path choice alongside map effects.