Quality of printed bus timetables

[triplethree]

Hello everyone,

Long-time lurker here, first time poster, refugee from the Bus Australia discussion board. I haven't posted yet because nearly everything I've ever wanted to say has been covered very well by the regulars here. But I'd like to talk about something which doesn't get spoken about a lot here but which I think is important (and forgive me if this issue has been raised before) ...

And that's the quality of the bus timetables published by TransLink. Basically, they are truly appalling. They simply do not hold a candle to the timetables published by the public transport authorities in all the other capital cities, and even many regional areas interstate. I'll give some examples.

Maps. How can any self-respecting cartographer plot maps such as those from TransLink, then knock off at five o'clock and think to themselves, "Yup, great work today!" They resemble stick figures drawn by kindergarten kids rather than maps which convey useful geographic information. Let's compare Route 380 in Brisbane:

http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/090803_379,380,381.pdf

With Route 380 in Sydney:

http://www.sydneybuses.info/routes/333_380_381_382_X84map.pdf

See the difference? The Brisbane map doesn't even show railway stations, shopping centres (of which there are two, one at Ashgrove and one at The Gap), schools or health facilities. The street network is also omitted - you really need the street network as context, and to get a rough idea of how far you have to walk to get to the bus. How do I know where I can connect to a train? The Brisbane map isn't even approximately at scale - I love how all of The Gap is squashed into a few centimetres over at the left. Zone boundaries are shown - but where exactly are they? It shows Zone 3 beginning somewhere around Glory Street - but with no street network or bus stops depicted to show any sort of context, how would I know which stop exactly?

A cartographic mega-fail. If I turned something in like this at uni (and I'm a final-year uni student studying this kind of thing), I'd get a big fat 0 out of 7, maybe a 1 if I'm lucky or a 2 if the lecturer was a slack bastard - and rightly so.

Impossible Routes. Take a look at the map on the 750 timetable:

http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/120514-750,N750.pdf

Look at the route of the N750 between Bond Uni and Robina Town Centre. Now look at the same area in a street directory or Google Maps. Concentrate on the bit between Manly Drive and Tullamarine Drive.

Do they use an amphibious bus to cross the lake? 

Missing Route Information. Route 376 is a peak-hour express version of Route 375. Instead of travelling all-stops via the Valley, it goes to RBWH via the Northern Busway and then runs non-stop from there to Lutwyche. Now, where-oh-where is this information about the non-stop stretch hiding in the timetable?

http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/100830-P374,375,376.pdf

Hmm ... I can't seem to see it. Let's get my magnifying glass out. Nup. Still can't find it. Now I'll try my electron tunnelling microscope ... Nope. Still not there. Bugger.

Timing Points. All spatial information consists of points, lines or polygons. A timing point is just that - a point. A discrete place on the Earth's surface with a fixed discrete (x,y,z) co-ordinate. A timing point serves as a fixed place where a bus should be at the indicated time. Now let's look at the 660 timetable:

http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/111219-660,664,667.pdf

Notice the timing point named "Rothwell"? Where is that timing point, exactly? I mean, Rothwell is quite a large suburb. In fact, it's about 3 kilometres along the 660 through Rothwell. Does the name "Rothwell" on the timetable refer to the roundabout at Anzac Avenue and Deception Bay Road? The Bunnings at Wattle Road? The school? The shops near Morris Road?

I could go on and on and on. But I think everyone gets the drift.

My solution? Honestly, it doesn't take much to fix these things. These blatant errors can be avoided through diligence, attention to detail and pride in one's work. And other public transport agencies don't seem to have a problem producing professional, helpful and informative maps to include in their timetables. Why can't TransLink?

Your thoughts?

[ozbob]

Welcome triplethree, glad you are onboard.  You raise an important issue.  Yes, there is room for improvement ...

[somebody]

FWIW, from the 660 HTML timetable: "Rothwell
Gynther Road, Anzac Av far side of Gynther Rd "

But why do you have to go to a different location to get info on this?  It should absolutely be included in the PDF.  Similarly with the 376.  It non stops Windsor??

Also, who says it is a timing point?  Translink only call it a "major stop".  Timing points should be declared to the public, but aren't!

[HappyTrainGuy]

Well, we have to do something while waiting for the hourly bus to show up. Why not try to figure out their maps and timetables

[SurfRail]

I've raised this many times before, and have never got any traction.  They don't consider it important.

There's also really basic stupidity going on, like maintaining completely different formats and appearances between BT stop/paper timetables and everybody elses, completely different format train/ferry/bus timetables etc.

Vector diagram bus network maps.  I was given a prototype Gold Coast one which contained about 50 or more errors, even accounting for the bad design.  I know for a fact that the cartographic data they use to plot all their bus stops in a given region is often wrong - even timing points are missing from their system in some cases.

No distinction between peak and off-peak routes, or any guide as to frequency.

Different types of bus stop pole (flag/J-pole etc) when a single type would do, and even then differences between the BCC ones and the post-2004 models (again when they could have just continued rolling out the BT style ones elsewhere instead of concocting a new system).

No local area or route maps on bus stops, and usually no maps even at major interchanges.  You get off a train at Nerang, there is NO guidance on which bus to catch where, or where it leaves from.

Transit Graphics, you are needed here urgently!

[Jonas Jade]

A side note, but I think I finally figured out how to get information Sydney's bus "sector" system.... thanks to looking at that map.

But it seriously shouldn't be that convoluted.

But the map itself is much better than the Brisbane ones!

[Gazza]

Great topic triplethree, agree completely.

Adelaide, Perth and Sydney all have far better bus maps than us and I'd like to see a shift to a full colour style with a full street grid shown.

[Otto]

Agreed !!

Even I have difficulty trying to understand the TL maps and I drive the buses !!!

[Jonas Jade]

Also, the bad map for individual timetables issue is compounded by there being no overall network map that could potentially be used as a reference eg to see where routes cross.

[triplethree]

Also, the bad map for individual timetables issue is compounded by there being no overall network map that could potentially be used as a reference eg to see where routes cross.

Exactly! The lack of network maps is another gripe for another time

The situation is so bad that a couple of weeks ago I drew my own Gold Coast network map. I printed out a whole heap of Google Maps of the Gold Coast in black-and-white, tiled them together using scissors and a glue stick, and went to each individual timetable and drew the routes in nice pretty colours using a pack of textas. I came up with my some conventions (e.g. dashed lines for expresses; red texta for Gold Coast Highway services; dotted lines for infrequent services worse than hourly) and came up with a nice usable map which I've folded up and that I can take with me when I travel down to the Gold Coast.

It was when I was looking at each timetable that I discovered the N750 amphibious boo-boo. There were other stuff-ups too in other TTs but the N750 is the one that sticks in my mind.

[kazzac]

I agree the Sydney one shown is much better than the TL bus timetable maps,more detail on there.

[somebody]

I agree the Sydney one shown is much better than the TL bus timetable maps,more detail on there.

Yet fairly easy to improve on.  Not noting stop locations for a limited stop service like the 333 is my particular favourite.

Seriously, basically everyone else can reach at least Sydney's level.

[triplethree]

Yet fairly easy to improve on.  Not noting stop locations for a limited stop service like the 333 is my particular favourite.

Seriously, basically everyone else can reach at least Sydney's level.

The 333 stops are shown on that Sydney 380 map - they're the blue pointy triangles along the route But yeah, the Sydney maps could be improved somewhat ... every stop for all-stops services could be shown (a la Adelaide and Canberra), major intersecting services could be annotated (as is very common in North American timetables), but even as they are they're miles ahead of Brisbane.

Hell, even the old pre-TransLink Brisbane Transport black & white timetables had maps which were at scale, always showed railway stations and sometimes showed the street network.

[somebody]

Hmm, never noticed that.  I've still noticed a number of minor errors which I can't think of OTOH.  Would also be nice to mark Simpson St where the X84 is all stops up to.  I guess with the intersecting services, they think you would be looking at the overall system map so it is what it is to reduce clutter.

Miles in front of Translink's info though.

[Gazza]

http://www.transport.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/16830/route5_map.pdf

Darwins look better than Brisbane too.

[SurfRail]

Hint - virtually everybody in Australia uses Transit Graphics (except for Perth), and we don't.

It shows.

[Gazza]

Are they a 3rd party graphics designer? A program that generates it? Link?

[SurfRail]

Are they a 3rd party graphics designer? A program that generates it? Link?

http://transitgraphics.com.au/

They also make transport models...