Looking to make its bus system more user-friendly and intuitive to navigate, Transport for London, the region’s transportation agency, recently announced a trial effort to color-code simpler bus maps, and even the buses themselves. The goal, ultimately, is to bring the buses more line with the Tube in terms of simplicity, as Design Week notes:
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says: “By bringing these new distinctive route colors to areas of the network, we’re making it as easy to navigate areas of London by bus as it is by Tube. It’s another key part in our efforts to encourage Londoners to take to the bus and help us tackle congestion, air pollution and make our city better for everyone.”
The trial starts this summer with seven routes in an east London neighborhood. Each bus will have large color decals on theirs sides clarifying their route and destinations. WIRED also notes that in another effort to improve lagging bus ridership, Sadiq Khan launched last year a ticketing program that grants bus riders another free ride if taken within one hour of the first ride.
Though reliability, travel time and frequency are the key motivators for encouraging people to try the bus, simplicity in routes and transit communications can play a role in removing informational barriers. Locally, the D.C. Circulator system has direct routes that are also color-coded.
Read the complete article at Design Week
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