I travelled a fair bit during the holidays and loved examining and comparing the design of the departure boards in various airports. While I wouldn’t call myself a design geek, I am fascinated by good design and how it can help facilitate a better life for us all.
There are a number of problems I encounter on a regular basis riding transit, including:
- Knowing which bus leaves from which bay
- Being able to compare my transit options easily
- Knowing whether the route I’m trying to connect with is the right bus I want (i.e. routes that cut short, such as the 320, which either goes to Fleetwood or Langley Centre). There’s currently no easy way to find this out while on the go
- Knowing whether the bus I’m trying to catch has left the bay yet, is just about to leave (meaning I need to run), or is leaving in a while
Faced with these problems, I’ve always thought the best solution would be real-time departure boards at transit loops. So here’s my amateur mockup of what such a departure board might look like:
The white version. Note the time and date at the top. The buses that leave in 2 minutes or less flash red.
Here's the all black version
Here's one where the route, destination and bay also flash red if the bus is set to depart in 2 minutes or less
These mockups were made entirely from real departures and routes based out of the Surrey Central bus loop.
Imagine their usage though.
Catching a bus from SkyTrain
Let’s say I’m coming home, about to disembark the SkyTrain at Surrey Central and I know that my bus is scheduled to leave almost immediately.
Normally, I would run down the stairs, to see that it’s still there, or that it’s just left.
With the departure board in the station, I could immediately scan the sign as soon as I’m off the SkyTrain. If it was set to depart in under 2 minutes, my route would be flashing, and I would have a real time estimate, based on GPS data, of when it’s set to leave. If it’s already boarding, it would flash “DUE”, letting me know that, yes, I in fact do need to run to catch it.
Comparing departure options
Let’s say I’m at a bus loop, headed to Langley.
Normally, especially with the poor signage we have already, there’s literally no easy way to find out my options. I would have to walk around the whole loop, reading the signs and the infotubes.
With the departure board, located at various spots in the loop, it’s much easier. I simply find the board, check which buses go to Langley, see which is coming first, and find the bay number. Coupled with a new map, the whole process is simple and seamless. And based on the mockup, the next bus for Langley is in 8 minutes, leaving me with just enough time to grab a coffee.
Conclusion
As you can see, the departure board concept has a variety of applications. It would dramatically improve the transit experience for users without access to the TransLink mobile site, which is obviously the majority of riders. It helps people with wayfinding, time management, overall safety (discouraging the running out-the-station-to-catch-the-bus without the need), and awareness of routes and options.
The board could even have a scrolling info space at the bottom for notifications, alerts, ads, or more, similar to many airport boards.
In my mind, having these departure boards at the transit loops and at major transfer areas would have been a much better installation than those ridiculous video screens with ads – a major waste of space and completely useless to the average rider.
Interesting as always Paul! Just wanted to mention that the video screens you refer to at the bottom of your post are actually a source of ad revenue for us — which might not be totally useful in the rider-information sense, but does provide the lovely benefit of additional transit funding :)
This is a wonderful post.
Some observations:
1. I think you modelled this somewhat on European train stations, very similar except in the train stations it is a small description of the city you are going to added in as well, here you have a bus route number.
2. I think Skytrain desperately needs a “Next train: X minutes” in each station.
3. Might wish to consider 24-hour format (or even Swiss style analog if room permits – you’d probably have to re-arrange the rest of it in that case).
4. The different colour font will not work well especially in an outdoor environment – it would likely be better to shade the background a different colour to indicate boldness.
5. I guess the underlying problem is getting accurate data – I remember they tried doing something like the “Next Bus: X mins” for the 98 B-Line, but that was completely unreliable for reasons I don’t know of, perhaps you do.
The reason why the 98 B-Line system failed is because Siemens didn’t bother to troubleshoot our system and it kept on freezing and restarting itself.
The buses today use a system called init, which is far more accurate and is used by many bus companies around the world, most of which in European countries such as Denmark and Germany.
I believe TransLink has been looking into installing these screens at some SkyTrain stations and Canada Line stations. I remember jlousa mentioned something like this.
Paul, I love you dearly, but you are a design geek — with awesome insight as a result. I wish you would come out east and fix Guelph’s transit system.
I think this is a great idea. I have used buses and skytrain extensively in the past and can imagine what a difference departure boards would make.
Paul,
In the last weeks I’ve been having to get via bus from Surrey Central to Newton to Fleetwood, and I would love that system.
My too frustrations are that once you at an outpost bus stop, there is NO information – no nice little rounder with details on it. Because I have my cell phone, I can get a text so that is something.
The other problem is that on the round info board at the bus loop, I see symbols that I have can’t find a key for. What does (on the 302) an asterix mean. What does the @ mean. There should be more plain language on the information board. At Surrey Central, lots of people have english as a 2nd language, and if I can’t figure it out, they may be lost!
totally agree with yoU!! those damn worthless tv screens were a total waste!! I’d much rather know what time and how long i’d be waiting at the different stops and transfers, than a flat screen showing weather conditions… guh!
In response to Jhenifer and Paul, who’s to say the video screens can’t be used for both? Ads on the bottom, departure boards on top? Would bring in ad revenue while helping the riders.
This is a wonderful idea. Perhaps money could be saved using induction pads and/or bluetooth system to convey the information onto the screens.
cool.
I think this is a great idea. I have used buses and skytrain extensively in the past and can imagine what a difference departure boards would make.