National Bus Company – TIMETABLE EVALUATION 1978

Description

The 1978 National Bus Company study tested how timetable format affects passenger comprehension by surveying 690 people in Peterborough, Southend and Kidderminster (on-bus and High Street). Four timetable styles (NBC, Southend, MAP, PTE) and four 24-hour clock presentations were used; respondents were profiled by age, sex and eyewear and responses coded as correct, correct with difficulty or incorrect. Key findings: fewer than 40% were comfortable with the 24-hour clock (21:45 proved hardest), omission of leading zeros caused confusion, and spacing or dots between hours and minutes improved readability. The Southend (12-hour/differentiated type) format was most popular and the MAP grid was widely disliked. Fewer than 15% correctly answered a practical timetable question; common mistakes included misreading day codes and overlooking route variations. Under 40% kept timetables at home and over a third struggled with two-dimensional displays. Recommendations included simple one-dimensional leaflets for some services, standardising page size, typeface and abbreviations, reassessing 24-hour clock use, and further layout research.