London Transport Users Committee – TIMES TABLES 2002

Description

This LTUC-commissioned study examined rail timetable design around London using desk review, interviews with six TOCs and disability groups, hall tests with 190 passengers and follow-up interviews. It found low industry awareness of good-practice guidance, little user research, and widespread confusion—especially among younger people, occasional travellers and lower socio-economic groups (C2DE). Common problems included small type, inconsistent codes/footnotes, poorly signposted date exceptions and unhelpful layout conventions. User testing showed paper timetables remain the most used pre-journey source (36%); older users especially prefer paper. Task success varied: simple reading tasks averaged 70% correct, identifying required changes 45–48% (with ABC1s 58% vs C2DEs 13%), and spotting exceptions 22–59%, revealing frequent failures to notice key codes. Respondents favored portrait booklets, larger type (disability groups preferring size 10), clear maps, colour/shading, on-page footnotes and bolding for through services. The report urges TOCs to adopt tested, passenger-centred, coordinated improvements (e.g., Connex-like portrait layout) while recognising no single format suits all.