Design Elements of Effective Transit Information Materials

Abstract

A 2001 NCTR research study found that the general public’s ability to plan trips on public transit using printed transit information materials was low, particularly on “complex” trips featuring multiple routes and transfers. Further research was recommended to isolate the impact of individual information material design elements on public transit trip planning ability, so that effective information material designs could be identified. One hundred and eighty participants were recruited at three shopping mall sites in the Tampa Bay area in August 2004, with the sample composed of both regular transit users and non users. Each was asked to undertake two “complex” transit trip planning assignments, requiring the use of a transit system map, and two individual route maps and bus schedules. Research staff observed participants as they undertook the trip planning assignments and interviewed them after each assignment. The transit trip planning task was separated into 5 discrete stages, with each stage assessed individually in terms of participant performance, problems encountered, and potential solutions. The first stage, identifying the trip origin and destination on the transit system map, was straightforward for most participants. Some minor problems, such as small font size, were identified. The second stage, using the system map to identify the bus routes required for the trip, was also a straightforward task for most participants, and almost 95 percent successfully identified the two required bus routes. The third stage, using the route maps to identify which bus stops to use, was found to be slightly more difficult, and around three quarters of the sample were able to successfully complete this task. The final two trip planning stages involved using tabular schedules to determine boarding and alighting times. Only around half the participants were able to successfully complete these stages, suggesting that the most critical research need is to find a way to improve public ability to successfully complete these stages. Of the seven design elements specifically isolated for further testing, only the “Days of Operation” element produced consistent statistically significant results. This finding suggested that separating weekday and weekend schedule information into separate tables would result in significant improvements in successful schedule use.