I find the separate designations A,B,C,D and W,X,Y,Z for 5th and 6th Avenues counter-intuitive. I’d make them both A,B,C,D and in ‘reversed’ order, so that each block would have 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s, 2 D’s.
This arrangement could have color coding to make the signage even more intuitive.
On the north and south ends of the transit mall, bus routes are color-coded, but the color-coding doesn’t related to the A,B,C,D stops of the central mall.
Some maps and handouts are very difficult to read. “Downtown bus route and schedule changes” effective May 24, is an especially difficult to read.
On the “Portland City Center and Fareless Square-May 2009, the “Mall Bus Groupings” window is a good simplification.
I think having two A’s, two B’s, on two different streets would lead to confusion for new users.
It changes the answer to a question like “How do I get to [place]” from “Go to Stop A and catch the #nnnnn” to “Go to Stop a on 5th (but not 6th) and catch the #nnnnn”.
I don’t think the exact same mix of buses stops at the WXYZ stops as the ABCD stops anyway.
I don’t think the exact same mix of buses stops at the WXYZ stops as the ABCD stops anyway
This is true (and I think may have been discussed elsewhere here). The problem is that going out one side, it may make sense to group Lines A and B, but they go totally separate ways on the other side.
“I think having two A’s, two B’s, on two different streets would lead to confusion for new users.”
Each ‘block’ would have ‘one’ A,B,C,D designation, Bob, one on 5th and the other on 6th. The block where bus riders disembark (on either 5th or 6th) is the same block they board on the opposite transit mall street.
The diffeence between the ‘mixes’ of stops on 5th and 6th is almost identical:
A: 9,17,19
W: 9,17,8
B: 4,31,32,33,99
Y: 4,31,32,33,
C: 35,36,44,54,56,
X: 35,36,44,54,56,99
D: 1,12,94,8
Z: 1,12,94,19
In other words, ‘3’ bus lines of ’17’ are out of order. You’re just being contrary. Nyah. If a rider arrives downtown and gets off at station ‘B’ which stop on 6th do the seek a return ride?
Hah! You’ve got to look it up! It’s ‘Y’ unless they came downtown on ’99’ in which case, it’s ‘B’. You want intuitive? Simplify the Bus stop signage. Phooey!
6 responses to “Geeking Out on Bus Signs”
I find the separate designations A,B,C,D and W,X,Y,Z for 5th and 6th Avenues counter-intuitive. I’d make them both A,B,C,D and in ‘reversed’ order, so that each block would have 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s, 2 D’s.
This arrangement could have color coding to make the signage even more intuitive.
On the north and south ends of the transit mall, bus routes are color-coded, but the color-coding doesn’t related to the A,B,C,D stops of the central mall.
Some maps and handouts are very difficult to read. “Downtown bus route and schedule changes” effective May 24, is an especially difficult to read.
On the “Portland City Center and Fareless Square-May 2009, the “Mall Bus Groupings” window is a good simplification.
I think having two A’s, two B’s, on two different streets would lead to confusion for new users.
It changes the answer to a question like “How do I get to [place]” from “Go to Stop A and catch the #nnnnn” to “Go to Stop a on 5th (but not 6th) and catch the #nnnnn”.
I don’t think the exact same mix of buses stops at the WXYZ stops as the ABCD stops anyway.
I don’t think the exact same mix of buses stops at the WXYZ stops as the ABCD stops anyway
This is true (and I think may have been discussed elsewhere here). The problem is that going out one side, it may make sense to group Lines A and B, but they go totally separate ways on the other side.
“I think having two A’s, two B’s, on two different streets would lead to confusion for new users.”
Each ‘block’ would have ‘one’ A,B,C,D designation, Bob, one on 5th and the other on 6th. The block where bus riders disembark (on either 5th or 6th) is the same block they board on the opposite transit mall street.
The diffeence between the ‘mixes’ of stops on 5th and 6th is almost identical:
A: 9,17,19
W: 9,17,8
B: 4,31,32,33,99
Y: 4,31,32,33,
C: 35,36,44,54,56,
X: 35,36,44,54,56,99
D: 1,12,94,8
Z: 1,12,94,19
In other words, ‘3’ bus lines of ’17’ are out of order. You’re just being contrary. Nyah. If a rider arrives downtown and gets off at station ‘B’ which stop on 6th do the seek a return ride?
Hah! You’ve got to look it up! It’s ‘Y’ unless they came downtown on ’99’ in which case, it’s ‘B’. You want intuitive? Simplify the Bus stop signage. Phooey!
Correction:
I got it wrong! The return ride for Bus route 99 that arrives downtown at Stop ‘B’ is Stop ‘X’, not ‘Y’.
You want intuitive? Simplify the Bus stop signage!
N Y A H !!
Call me a transit geek. But I really miss the orange deer and the yellow rose and the red salmon and so on.
What was so difficult about those?