Roberts J et al – GETTING THERE 1985

Description

Between 1979 and 1985 London Transport reviewed central London bus information to make services easier to use and better marketed. Penrose-style maps were geographically accurate but hard to use for route-finding; the Underground’s diagrammatic approach inspired proposals for schematic, named-stop maps, stop displays and on-vehicle signing. LT’s internal team (Graef/Holmes) and ad agency Royds influenced a hybrid Central London Bus Map (CLBM) launched August 1981 featuring intersection “interchange” circles, four-colour directional coding and separate treatment of night/irregular routes. Testing was limited and the rushed rollout produced mixed reactions: some users found route identification easier, while staff and a key demographic (women 35–55 C2D) found it confusing. Criticisms included mapping and typographic errors, circles that obscured junctions and bus-stop locations, omission or inconsistent depiction of railways, termini and conditional services, and weak integration with stop and in-bus information. Subsequent leaflet revisions (1982–83) improved some elements but many problems persisted. The CLBM proved useful as a planning adjunct but failed to meet clear fitness-for-purpose and was not robustly tested or resolved.