Morrison – SPATIAL ASPECTS OF MODERN INFORMATiON SYSTEMS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT PASSENGERS IN SOME EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 1993

Description

Alastair Morrison’s 1992 study of public transport information in France, Germany and Spain found that computer-generated street terminals are rare and many experimental systems failed; where present (Autoplus, Digiplan, Minitel, EFA) they mainly offer verbal itineraries and limited spatial displays. Traditional spatial information—network maps and diagrammatic route maps at stops and in vehicles—remains the primary navigation aid. However, these conventional displays have shortcomings: whole-network maps are often too complex or use indistinct colours, and individual route diagrams frequently lack clear direction, ‘you are here’ markers, consistent orientation, and integration across routes. Morrison argues the cost-effective remedy is not more terminals but GIS-produced paper displays tailored to users’ needs: zone maps (large-scale central zone with progressively reduced scale outward) and stop-specific route maps (showing all outbound routes from a stop, oriented to read up). These computer-generated maps would be clearer, easier to produce and revise, and preferable to replacing spatial displays with verbal itineraries.