Payne – THE MAPPING OF BUS ROUTES 1988

Description

This document comprehensively evaluates the effectiveness of bus map design, identifying significant shortcomings in various contemporary maps from London and Hitchin, exacerbated by the complexities of bus service privatization. A small-scale fieldwork study conducted in Oxford demonstrated that users often find existing bus maps inadequate for planning journeys, requiring supplementary street plans due to insufficient geographical detail and clarity. The analysis emphasizes the importance of integrating bus routes onto a clear street plan base, adopting node-based numbering for dense areas, and consistently depicting service frequencies, operator differentiation, and key destinations. Crucially, the study recommends making non-bus information, such as railway stations, highly prominent. Based on these findings, the document proposes an improved two-color bus map for Hitchin, designed to be user-friendly, informative, and visually clear, thereby encouraging greater public transport usage.