I think I mentioned this to you already, but leaving out the Metrorail lines (which we all know are "12 minute" already) would make for a cleaner Google map.

I'd also like to see this as a GIS-based PDF map...:o)

by Froggie on Apr 22, 2009 8:27 am  

fascinating map. thanks for the work.

Shows how easy it would be to have electric street cars on a couple of corridors. It would help to remove a lot of buses, which do clog up road traffic as they take on passengers, and a lot of street noise/air pollution for the walkers.

OK, street cars might be as bad for road traffic but for those of us not in cars getting rid of, say, all 30 series buses on M street in gtown would be nice.

by charlie on Apr 22, 2009 8:28 am  

I am pretty sure there has to be a bus at least every 12 minutes on most of columbia pike in Arlington.

by SA on Apr 22, 2009 8:33 am  

I would love this kind of map from WMATA! In fact, I might print this one out and carry it with me. Sure, I know my most frequently used routes just fine, but what if something comes up while I'm out and I need to go somewhere else? It should (presumably) be much easier for WMATA to put together this map than yourself... I wish they would.

by LibrariNerd on Apr 22, 2009 8:40 am  

Along the lines of what LibrariNerd just mentioned, here's an example from Metro Transit in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro...their "Hi-Frequency Network", where they guarantee service at least every 15 minutes weekdays 6am-7pm and Saturdays 9am-6pm.

Perhaps WMATA and/or the regional systems here could do something similar.

by Froggie on Apr 22, 2009 8:47 am  

Its really remarkable that there both so few overall bus lines that run on a reasonable schedule during the day and one two that run crosstown - east-west.

by alex on Apr 22, 2009 8:51 am  

From the bus planners' statement, it sounds like they're stuck in the system of the present and are suffering a failure of imagination for what the system could be. Sure, I only know the couple bus routes I normally use. But that's only due to a lack of easy access to simplified information. If I'm going outside my normally traveled routes, I take rail because it's easy to tell where it goes and how often.

On a similar note, I was recently in London and was very impressed with the "pipe diagrams" at each bus stop. They show which buses stop there, a little rail-like line diagram showing where they all go, and list at the top how often they arrive (eg "6-12 mins"). It shows how easy things can be for walk-up riders if information is disseminated with them in mind.

by RichardatCourthouse on Apr 22, 2009 9:01 am  

I think Metro's position illustrates their unfortunate bias towards commuters. Nothing wrong with helping commuters out, but they presuppose we're going to be in a position to research the correct line prior to getting on the bus. I often find myself at a certain location wishing I knew the best bus route to get to a different area. And I am a frequent bus user with what I would consider a professional level of local knowledge.

A product like the above also would be very useful for tourists trying to branch out from the standard sites. As it stands now, I hesitate to recommend the bus system as a whole, as it requires a far amount of local knowledge to use. Something like this would make it feasible, if still a bit of a challange.

by Tim K on Apr 22, 2009 9:27 am  

I live out in suburban Maryland and have often found the system map & time tables to be far too daunting... I'll just walk or drive, as the case may be. This map is an excellent start -- I'd definitely love to see WMATA promulgating an official map.

by Bossi on Apr 22, 2009 9:32 am  

great map. But it would be better without metro lines confusing things IMHO. I can vouch that no one uses maps for the X2. We know it'll come soon, the bigger question is if there will be room for everyone.

by Tom A. on Apr 22, 2009 9:33 am  

I remember seeing these maps in LA on Wilshire Blvd, and I asked John Catoe about it in one of his online chats at WMATA. The answer was simply "I'll pass your suggestion on to our marketing folks."

One would think he'd remember at least what they were, and maybe at least some gauge of their effectiveness when he was running the show in LA?

by Joe in SS on Apr 22, 2009 9:33 am  

Here's a photo of one of the actual "go metro" maps in LA:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/1847303764/

It's still kind of confusing for an out-of-towner, but an improvement.

As for DC - good work! At the very least it helps us think about these things. Funny that not even Metrorail guarantees 12-min intervals; we've all experienced 20-minute waits on the platform.

by michael on Apr 22, 2009 9:59 am  

I think RichardatCourthouse gets it right. The main benefit isn't for current riders, it's for new riders or current riders on unusual trips.

I don't ride the bus much. It's only really worth it for me if it's an area without Metro coverage that I'm going to visit often enough to justify the research. The website trip planner definitely helps on that score, but obviously that requires at very least a computer or fully net connected smart phone.

by Greg Sanders on Apr 22, 2009 10:00 am  

Metro's response is stunted. The bus network is more of web than Metro is. It's inherently more flexible, with more options, if only they'd distill and present their information better.

My commute involves taking the 4 bus (Route 50 to Rosslyn) or the 22 bus (George Mason to Ballston) depending on which one gets their first.

I have to make a bus route decision nearly everyday!

by crin on Apr 22, 2009 10:00 am  

As a daily Metro rail and bus commuter, I think WMATA is wrong when they say that commuters know the routes. I didn't even know about the X2 bus until a few months ago when the H Street Shuttle bus was announced and people suggested the X2 as a more frequent alternative.

I agree you could strip off the rail map, and would suggest you add route numbers. This would be helpful on streets that have multiple lines, especially if they do not all go to the same place. I'd hate to get on the first bus than came by only to have it make an unexpected turn a block later.

by Stanton Park on Apr 22, 2009 10:15 am  

This is a very good map, but I think I tend to agree with WMATA that this type of map isn't extremely useful. Buses, I think, are point-to-point transit. I don't think that they're treated as a system in the same way that Metrorail is. I've been living down here for a year and could count on one hand the number of times I've taken a bus. I know that, by and large, I can get to anywhere I need to go within a mile or so of a metro stop. I've made attempts to figure out a bus line that would be beneficial to me, and I've found it to difficult.

by Paz on Apr 22, 2009 10:26 am  

I think its a useful map. Many Metrorail patrons don't use the bus for a variety of reasons--one is they don't know where the buses go and a map of this type would help with basic navigation. The larger maps, schedules and trip planner tool would still be useful for detail.

Another huge task: Making sense of the proliferation of uncoordinated bus route numbers and letters throughout the region. There was once a fairly simple system: streetcars had 2 digit numbers (buses that replaced them still retain those numbers). Capital/DC Transit had a letter followed by a one digit number (DC+Montgomery). WMA (Prince George's) had a letter followed by a two digit number. AB&W & WVM (Virginia) had a two digit number followed by a letter. Express route numbers were in red. Limited route numbers were in yellow. While the system was not perfect, there was some order to it.

Now each bus provider numbers their own buses so nobody can possibily have any idea what bus serves what area.

by kreeggo on Apr 22, 2009 10:36 am  

I took the line weights down on Metrorail. People are already mostly familiar with those routes or have other maps, so it's not the real point of this map.

Columbia Pike is an odd bird, there are so many variations it was hard to do the analysis. Some of the lines go to Pentagon, some to Pentagon City. The best I could come up with was a weird combination of lines that runs every 8 minutes but doesn't go past the Navy Annex and I would have had to do a lot of analysis (read: staring at the two schedules side by side) to show that it wasn't two buses every 15 minutes instead of a bus every 8.

If someone could help me figure out how to make this a GIS-based PDF that would be great, I'd love to do that.

The 30s line was the biggest surprise, but the limited stop service doesn't run during mid-day, and the regular lines decrease to something like 15 minute headways, so they were out.

@Timk, I was thinking about how areas like Adams Morgan or Mount Pleasant, at the cross of a couple of these routes, could be helped by these maps.

@Stanton Park, Anyone know how to add route numbers to the Google Map? Right now you can click on the line to see the data, which contains the route number and hours of 12-minute service.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 10:39 am  

Yeah... the 16's on Columbia Pike are missing.

by Beau on Apr 22, 2009 10:39 am  

Completely disagree with Paz, the buses are absolutely a system, and a necessary one. Yes, metro rail suffices for many, but the author and the map's objective is to show that if treated as a system and presented in a fashion that can be better utilized, buses can get you to where you need to go more efficiently than metro rail. This has been my experience even without a decent map - this one is an improvement, many thanks, Michael!

Also, Paz: metro rail probably doesn't seem like much of a system to those who drive everyday and can count on one hand the number of times they've used it.

by Drew on Apr 22, 2009 10:41 am  

Well, I agree with Paz that without additional information it IS in fact too difficult for a lot of potential riders. I think the very elementary, basic things that make bus riding intimidating are often overlooked: Am I standing in the right place? Is a bus *really* coming? Is that my bus? Why did the bus that carried the number I wanted just pass by me without stopping? Will this bus really stop at the stop where I live? What I find great about riding the 16's on Columbia Pike is that *most* of these questions are answered from the first trip. A map showing all 12-minute headway routes, assuming it can be clearly determined which way the bus moves (if I am on this side of the street, it goes this way, versus if I am on that side of the street, it goes the other way)... this is like opening up another dozen train routes, in a way.

by Beau on Apr 22, 2009 10:45 am  

i think this would be really useful. i try not to drive if possible, and that would make it easier.

another useful thing would be to search for routes in a given area. many times if i can get downtown, thats all i need and many buses do that. id rather walk a few extra blocks for a 5 minute wait than wait 25 minutes at the closer stop.

by dano on Apr 22, 2009 10:46 am  

I find this map to be incredibly depressing. That's an absurdly low number of buses that run with any kind of frequency. Any bus that doesn't run every 12 minutes means is basically useless for getting anywhere on time since the timetables are never followed.

I live around Union Station really close to a stop for both the circulator and the 80 bus. When I first moved here, I worked downtown and went to school at GW so I used these buses everyday. These trips took at least thirty minutes and sometimes much longer eventhough I had two "frequent" bus options. It was a trip of less than two miles so it was faster to walk. I eventually started walking the extra half mile to the redline which was light-years faster.

The Metrobus system is basically useless unless it is rapid with dedicated lanes and a predictable, easy to remember map. Why not have a grid bus system in the L'enfant grid? Why send every bus through the tediously slow K street corridor?

by tim on Apr 22, 2009 11:11 am  

Why does everyone seem to think the metrobus maps and schedules are so hard; I just cant see why I have no problem with them or any other schedule for the matter of figuring out how to read or use it. Unless a person is trying to figure out what bus goes where in 10 seconds I don't see a problem, people just need to take the time out to look at the map.

Metro should use something similar to the maps on new rideon schedules in which have they numbers corresponding to the stops, which dumbs it down a little for the people who cant seem to figure out how to use a schedule or read a map.

by kk on Apr 22, 2009 11:14 am  

I agree w/many other commenters that a map like this is long overdue and of course useful; and making the metrotrain line weights narrower helped. Like Tim K says when you find yourself somewhere and don't know the lines already and map like this would be very usefeul.

i'd like to point out again the lack of upper NE to upper NW transit in DC., i.e. how do you get from Tenley to Brightwood? All the transit is N-S. This is a communter bias too. There's not one busline that fit the criteria for NE-NW across the north part of the city. That really sucks.

by Bianchi on Apr 22, 2009 11:19 am  

Tim, if it's any comfort there were quite a few lines that ran every 15 minutes during the day. I just wasn't willing to compromise and make a "15 minute map".

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 11:21 am  

It's not that the maps & time tables are difficult to understand, it's just that my forays into DC are so spur-of-the-moment that when I need to go: I need to go now; not spend time trying to navigate through a website & sort through several dozen numbers.

by Bossi on Apr 22, 2009 11:29 am  

@Beau, I completely agree. I ride several different lines frequently but always have those same worries when I am using a new line. I think a lot of those questions could be answered easily by posting more information at stops, including area maps (showing which bus lines travel through the surrounding blocks) and detailed stop maps that show where that stop's particular lines stop. Many stops even already have information boxes affixed to them which frequently go unused. (Of course, there is a whole other issue of not being able to post this information in shelters due to advertising agreements....)

by JS on Apr 22, 2009 11:29 am  

Tenleytown-Brightwood is sort of served by the E2/E3/E4 line, which has some 18 minute headways, so it was excluded.

KK, I understand that people are capable of using maps and schedules, but based on the reaction here it looks like there is a market for a "boiled down" version that simplifies it a little.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 11:30 am  

Bianchi, The only line that comes close is all the E buses except the E6. Where are trying to go in Upper NE; Brightwood is not in NE

Depending on what you consider Upper NE if your talking about above Fort Totten you have the K2, K6, F1 and F2 below it you have the 64, 80, all E lines except E6, R3, R4 and H8

by kk on Apr 22, 2009 11:30 am  

kk, oh right Brightwood. Although I think it straddles N. Cap. I HATE the fact that all the busses are diverted to Ft. Totten. THAT is precisely the problem. Specifically I want to go ~ the corner of New Hampshire Ave and Eastern Ave., about a mile from the Ft. Totten and Takoma stations. Every goddam bus in the area gets diverted to Ft. Totten.

I choose Brightwood randomly as an example. And as an example it is valid. No (good) bus service from one side of NW to the other? Why isn't there a frequent bus along Military/Missouri? [which has no sidewalks] And another one that goes up NHA without the 25-40 minute time consuming diversion to Ft. Totten?

by Bianchi on Apr 22, 2009 11:41 am  

Ok, I did some tweaking by thinning and brightening the bus lines and thickening but dimming the rail lines. I think it works better now.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 11:43 am  

The map is very useful, and I'd like to second the notion that the lack of cross-town bus options is pretty shameful. One candidate for expansion could be to increase the frequency of the G2 bus on P st, which runs through logan circle and shaw. That would at least ensure one crosstown option between U St. and downtown.

by Dan Miller on Apr 22, 2009 12:37 pm  

"WMATA bus planners stated that such a map would not be that useful for riders, because they generally know the routes they ride pretty well. They use the full system map to first select a route, then consult the timetables to learn more about a particular route. They said that riders don't typically look at Metrobus as a system, but rather as a route that they ride all the time."

Well yes, of course they do, because they aren't provided the information to use the system any other way.

On a recent trip to London, I found myself needing a bus to get from Shepherd's Bush to Hammersmith because the Tube line I wanted to take was suspended. This was my first time taking a London bus unaccompanied by a native Londoner. It was easy. In any vicinity with a high density of bus stops - around Tube stations, at major intersections, etc. - the bus shelters all have schematic maps of all the bus routes that pass through the area, alphabetical lists of all the destinations that can be reached by bus keyed to which bus routes you can take to reach them, and detailed street maps showing where to wait for each bus.

So I looked up "Hammersmith" on the list of destinations and found that there were two bus routes I could take. They both left from the same stop and both had less than 10-minute headways. So I went to the stop, and within 5 minutes I was on my bus.

In my view, the closer Metro can come to a system like that, the better. But they've got a long way to go - many bus stops in Maryland have no posted information at all, apart from the route numbers. Not the destinations, schedules, or anything.

by Johanna on Apr 22, 2009 12:50 pm  

@ Johanna: I have had the same experience, but then in Kyoto, Japan, with the extra difficulty of not being able to read a single word/character on the map. When I returned, I sent and e-mail to WMATA, asking them if they would be embarrassed that I found the Kyoto bus system easier to navigate than the DC system, despite the typographical problem. I received some useless answer back, muttering something about high cost and working on something. This was in 2002 or so. It was also around the time that I definitively decided that WMATA had an utter lack of vision, and works like an introspective organization mostly occupied with internal financial struggles, in stead of with moving folks around town. I still haven't been proven wrong.

by Jasper on Apr 22, 2009 1:55 pm  

This shows exactly how the bus system behaves for people who are not commuters and who have other transportation options.

That group (& tourists, in this city) is the group you need to cater to in order to grow service outside of rush hour.

by Jad on Apr 22, 2009 2:41 pm  

Brilliant work! I think this map shows the REAL reason why WMATA doesn't publish an official frequent-service map: MetroBus is pathetic. There's only 7 frequent MetroBus lines in the entire city! And that, in a nutshell, is why I never, ever take a WMATA bus. Why wait who-knows-how-long for the next bus when you can just walk to a train or Circulator?

by tom veil on Apr 22, 2009 3:26 pm  

I think we need to take a step back with all these comments that Metro has "only" 7 frequent routes. Compared to other U.S. cities, that's actually pretty good. When I lived in Philly, we thought 20-min service was good. When I speak with colleagues in other parts of the country (outside places like LA and NYC which are a lot bigger than we are) they are amazed when I tell them I have the choice of two bus lines that each run every 3 mins or better in the peak. They're happy if their buses run every 15-20 mins during the peak, let alone all day.

I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement. Obviously we can do a lot better than we are now - I'd love to see WMATA take up some of these ideas about better signage and maps, and it would be great to have more frequent and reliable cross-town service. But we also need to realize that we actually have a pretty good bus system here in D.C.

Btw, I think the 12-min all-day cut-off might be a bit arbitrary. PikeRide should definitely be included.

by Esmeralda on Apr 22, 2009 4:08 pm  

Ok, so I looked a little closer at Pike Ride. The best I think I could do is to say that the 16 A D J combine with the 16G to provide service every 8 minutes from Columbia Pike and Buchanan Streets to the Navy Annex. Both of them go to Metro Blue and Yellow lines, but half of them are going to the Pentagon and the other half are going to Pentagon City.

What do you think? In or out? How should I depict this on the map? The route stops at Navy Annex?

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 4:36 pm  

Definitely include it at least from Buchanan to South Joyce at Columbia Pike (that's actually one stop past Navy Annex and is probably easier to depict on the map). You could always include the info on half-this-way-half-that in the description... or come up with some special mark on the map.

by Beau on Apr 22, 2009 4:50 pm  

Ok, it's in, depicted in green. It should be noted that the headways for these lines are really uneven. Sometimes they'll come one right after another but then it will be the full 12 minutes to the next one.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 4:58 pm  

Esmeralda, what's wrong with high expectations? Perhaps if people in those other cities had higher expectations they may have better transit options. The goal is to upgrade, to learn from the many other places who do it better to improve service and quality of life for people here. What's the point of slacking off just because we can find places that aren't as good?

by Bianchi on Apr 22, 2009 5:04 pm  

Ride-On 15 runs on 12 minute headways in mid-day, and as short as 4 minutes in rush hour.

Routes 55 and 59 mostly follow the same route between Shady Grove and Lakeforest Mall. Together, they have six buses per hour mid-day. They are staggered so that sometimes there are 15 minutes between two buses, but the number of buses per hour is the test to me - realistically a bus scheduled to run every 12 minutes will have buses 15 minutes apart sometimes.

There are several other Ride-On routes that run with 15 minute headways all day - 46 and 20, for example.

by Ben Ross on Apr 22, 2009 5:12 pm  

I'll take a look at 15. I excluded WMATA routes that had 15 minute headways so I won't be including the other ones. 12 minutes is a good threshold. If someone else wants to put together a 15 minute map I'll be happy to export the data I got so you don't have to duplicate.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 5:14 pm  

15 only runs every 20 minutes during rush hours. It doesn't look there are any parallel routes that can be used to upgrade the 15 to a better headway during rush hour.

My criteria was to have at least a bus every 12 minutes from morning rush to evening rush and including the mid-day, in both directions.

It's a good route, but I think I have to leave it off.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 5:45 pm  

The only place Ride-On 15 has 20 minute headways is in the counterflow direction during the morning rush hour. (The morning flow direction is from Langley Park to Silver Spring.) In the flow direction, 10 minute headways begin at 4:50 am (!!) and 5 minute headways begin at 5:30 am. The evening peak has 6 to 7 minute headways in the flow direction and 10 minute headways in the counterflow direction. Mid-day has 12 minute headways in both directions.

I think it's kind of artificial to exclude this route from the map. The occasional bus rider who's the likely user of this map is much more likely to be traveling in mid-day or evening than early in the morning in the counterflow direction.

by Ben Ross on Apr 22, 2009 6:01 pm  

Ben, I understand where you're coming from, but I can't put out a map that says "the lines on these routes operate every 12 minutes or better from morning rush to evening rush" and then put a big asterisk on it that says "not really, if you're the kind of rider that would ride in the counter commute direction in the morning".

It's a great route (headway-wise that is, the route is not very memorable geographically which makes it trickier. It's hard to beat the simplicity of the 70s or the X2), but there were a lot of great routes that I excluded for the same or similar reasons.

Sorry to be such a purist, if you'd like an export of the data to extend it I'll gladly provide.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 6:41 pm  

Here in San Francisco the street maps you find at the bus stops have a little chart at the bottom. The chart shows how often every route runs at every time of day, every day of the week. There's no reason for WMATA not to have such a chart.

The buses run a lot more frequently than the Metrobuses too.

by san franciscian on Apr 22, 2009 7:37 pm  

Richmond Hwy. has several lines that may make it qualify as a 12 minute headway route in parts: Metrobus REX, FC 151, 152, 161, 162, 171.

I think it would be interesting to see this exercise done for other intervals than 0-12 minutes, such as 13-15 minutes, 16-30 minutes, 31-60 minutes and 60+ minutes. This would add to our understanding and could be a first step towards rationalizing the system. Since Metro is unwilling to do any analysis like this, perhaps MWCOG could be persuaded to lead the rationalization effort.

by Chuck Coleman on Apr 22, 2009 7:54 pm  

It's kinda fun to read this as a streetcar candidates map...

by James D on Apr 22, 2009 8:27 pm  

Did you look at the 63/64 buses? Did they not qualify? I know that during outside of rush hour, they both run on 11th st with some regularity. Otherwise, the 63 runs on 13th/Sherman and the 64 runs on 11th st.

by Shawn on Apr 22, 2009 8:39 pm  

Chuck, Shawn, thanks for these ideas, I'll look into them.

James, all the two-digit numbered lines (50s, 70s, 90s, 42) used to be streetcars, so it's not surprising that they continue to be frequent bus lines. I was actually surprised that the 30s and the 80 did not continue as frequent bus lines.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 9:18 pm  

Shawn, from what I have available the 60s don't qualify. There are 20 minute headways during lunchtime on the 60/64 series, and 15 minute headways pretty much all day on the 62/63 line. The lines don't run on the same streets so you can't combine headways.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 10:59 pm  

REX - half hour headways mid-day. Nope.

Chuck, I see what you're talking about, but I think what I see is that mid-day, REX is every half hour, 151 is every hour, 171 is every hour and 162 is every hour. It's possible all these headways are precisely coordinated to have a 12-minute headway (there are 5 buses per hour, after all) but I doubt it. It's a confusing set of routes (you'd have to know to take REX/171/152/161 Northbound, and REX/171/151/162 Southbound). If you take the 150s or 160s going the wrong way, you're in for an hour-long scenic tour of the area, rather than a 20-minute ride to the Metro (the routes operate as circulators in counterclockwise and clockwise variants. One leg of the circulator is to zip up or down Richmond Highway).

If you're willing to show me that there's a bus every 12 minutes going along Richmond Highway between Sherwood Hall Lane and Huntington, that would work and I'd add it to the map. Trying to write it all down at this point would make my head hurt.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 22, 2009 11:29 pm  

Keep the ideas for lines coming, especially from other non-WMATA jurisdictions. I don't mind taking a look.

Must have >12 minute frequency from the morning rush to the evening rush, including lunch time. The lunch time is probably the hard part.

Thanks to everyone who suggested lines. I think based on the reaction here, I'm going to bring this idea up with the WMATA staff. Hopefully there will be two results:

1. We might get an actual 12-minute or 15-minute map out of it.

2. It might encourage jurisdictions to improve headways so they can get their routes "on the map". I'm looking at you, RideOn route 15.

I think I'll add Ben Ross' suggested route and just note on the map that it doesn't operate at 12 minute headways for peak morning counterflow. He's probably right that it's still useful to have it on the map.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 23, 2009 8:15 am  

Since any single frequency cut-off is arbitrary, perhaps an ideal map would show every line with variable width based on its frequency. Maybe 1 unit wide for buses that run at least once per hour, 2 units wide for buses that run at least every 30 mins, 5 units wide for 12 minute buses, etc. That way, a rider could look at the map and see all buses, but the more frequent ones woud be much more prominent.

That's a lot more work to create, though.

by David Alpert on Apr 23, 2009 8:20 am  

@DA: Not if you're brilliant with working with GTFS data. That kind of tedious stuff is great for computers to do :)

by Michael Perkins on Apr 23, 2009 8:46 am  

I applaud your effort to create this map. I think it's a great idea. If I ever get a chance to visit Washington, I'll be sure to check out your site first!

by Laura on Apr 23, 2009 9:14 am  

Geez! Isn't that typical of a transit agency to respond:

"I discussed this map with WMATA bus planners, who stated that it would not be that useful for riders because they generally know the routes they ride pretty well, and use either the full system map to select a route or the timetables to learn more about a particular route. They said that riders don't typically look at Metrobus as a system, but rather as a route that they ride all the time."

Why make a map at all then? Isn't that also true of metrorail riders? I virtually never take the green line, so why would I care to see a map with it on it? Man, I could go on and on about this. It drives me crazy!

Hello! Michael's idea is not to serve the people who already know their route. Doh! As long as the people who run metro imagine it as a service only for those who are already riding, how we will ever create a system that works for everyone? Something like this map Michael has made: simpler, more visual, easy to understand (e.g. Circulators) can get people riding who otherwise wouldn't.

Not long ago I was near Fed Triangle and my Twitter told me big delay on Orange, but if I could get to Foggy Bottom, I would get around the delay. I went to a busy street and a bus stop. I was (sort of) able to figure out the information, but just posting a whole schedule on the post is not that helpful, and it doesn't help as much if you're traveling a shorter distance and can catch more than one option.

Non-regulars ride the Metrorail because they can figure it out. Non-regulars don't ride the buses because they cannot figure them out. And as long as Metro can't see that, they can just keep driving around the regular passengers. Aarrgh!!

by steve o on Apr 23, 2009 11:02 am  

I found this article and all the comments very interesting. I live in Chippenham, a small market town in the county of Wiltshire, England. I live on the edge of town and it is about a mile to the town centre. If I want to catch a bus to town, I have a choice of 7 buses an hour provided by four different companies. This being the UK though, where buses were deregulated in the 1980s, none of these services are co-ordinated with each other (that is actually illegal!), and none accept return portions of each others tickets.

Regarding London. Transport for Lobdon (TfL) have installed something called 'iBus' in all vehicles. This is an audio/visual next stop announcement system that tells passengers what stop is coming up. This makes the system usable by everyone as you don't need to know the landmark to look out for when deciding where to get off the bus in order to reach your intended destination, you just need to know the name of the bus stop (as you would need to know the name of the train station if travelling by train).

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/2373.aspx

by Pete, Chippenham, Wiltshire, England on Apr 23, 2009 11:22 am  

OF COURSE Metrobus riders only "know the routes they ride pretty well" - it's such a difficult task to find out timetable information that we can only do it for the routes we actually have to use! I have many comlaints about how WMATA makes information available (requiring users to download and open a PDF for every bus route... are they kidding? Why isn't this just on a web page?) but to hear them justify their terrible communications with completely unsupported statements like "people don't use buses that way" is maddening.

by petergene on Apr 23, 2009 11:37 am  

Sorry not to read all 60+ comments before saying this, but once the legwork of consulting the schedules has been completed, is anyone planning on turning this into a more diagramatic "system map"?

I'd be happy to work on that sort of thing and have the tools necessary, but don't want to step on any toes.

by BeyondDC on Apr 23, 2009 5:39 pm  

I have no intent of doing another transit map for a while, but I am curious about what you're using, or used for your transit vision. ArcGIS?

by цarьchitect on Apr 23, 2009 5:43 pm  

First, good work!

This might be the London bus map referred to in comment #2:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/toweroflondon-2261.pdf

this map would seem to me to be a good analysis of how many people are traveling certain shared corridors, so they become obvious candidates for light rail lines. This approach differs -- even if not a lot -- from the typical "let's see which bus routes are busiest and build a light rail line on it" approach.

Comparing the 'Terrain' view vs. the 'Map' view of that map (buttons in upper right of the map) is interesting. The 'Map' view looks so much more pleasing to the eye, and it seems like natural features are a lot easier to pick out. There are a few differences between the maps that I can tell, but the main one is that the Map view has streets marked in white, with a grey background for land/buildings/etc. That makes the streets 'pop' to good effect. None of those 3 google maps tiles (the three different 'background color schemes', Map, Satellite, Terrain) really works for transit riders and bikers and walkers -- we need new google maps tiles that work for us. This is the first time it's really been crystallized for me that, as a general non-car driver, I really don't care about the existence of any highways (they just physically get in my way), so on my map, they're just taking up space and distracting me from visualizing and understanding the information I really want/need to get at (notice how huge and yellow they are on the 'Map' view). everyblock uses cool tiles with all sorts of open source tools. so, get on that Google, ya hear?

i'm not sure the Metro lines are clogging things up all that much, but it's possible. the big issue is the color scheme of the underlying map tiles. that london bus map linked above seems to show which bus stops are in close proximity to Metro/Tube stops. that could work, maybe. if bus and metro tickets/passes are available, with transparent access/fare systems between the two, then any map would want to think hard about showing connectivity, which would seem to me to require at least faded lines on the map for Metro routes.

that Minneapolis map is slammin. note the white background to make the routes 'pop'. i guess that would be why the Metro map looks so good, too.

i kinda like David Alpert's suggestion on width of lines corresponding to frequency of the route. definitely worth a thinking-through. the minneapolis map works in this regard, too -- showing which lines (line?) is/are rail-based.

a general comment about what we think we know because it is 'obvious' to us for some reason or another. i've been reading up on the Shangri-La Diet (i'd consider myself a skeptical fan), and reading Seth Robert's blog. if you don't know the background theme of his work, he's all about 'self-experimentation'. i was reading one of his original published papers, and a couple of ideas kept occurring to me: 1) self-experimentation (e.g. for us in the transit world, say, ride certain lines and see what it's actually like; post maps and see what the reaction actually is; interview people; etc.) is really really cool, and can lead to new insights and ideas, and 2) it's really important imo, as a general rule, to continue to challenge what we think we know, even and sometimes especially if 'everybody knows that!'. whether it's comments from WMATA or anyone else -- about riders, tourists, etc. -- we want to get actual data and experiences and see for ourselves.

love the iBus stuff. the Google Transit guys talked about providing this type of functionality at least year's TransitCamp.

by Peter on Apr 24, 2009 2:19 am  

@Beyonddc, I don't really plan on doing anything with this map right now except advocating for WMATA to make such a map. So if you want to turn this into something schematic and hopefully printable (or at least viewable offline), that would be fine with me. It's released under creative commons license, non-commercial and with attribution.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 24, 2009 6:38 am  

Trimet in Portland Ore. has this map online

http://trimet.org/pdfs/trimetsystemmap.pdf

which breaks down all their bus routes into frequent, standard, and rush hour only service. I'm not sure what the criteria are for frequent vs standard, but it at least gives a novice user a general idea of which bus routes run more often than others.

by rextrex on Apr 24, 2009 11:55 pm  

Tsarchitect said: I have no intent of doing another transit map for a while, but I am curious about what you're using, or used for your transit vision. ArcGIS?

Yep, BDC uses Arc. I've been doing the same for Twin Cities (Mpls/St. Paul) stuff.

In fact, I'm compiling the Twin Cities bus schedules together to plot out maps showing AM Peak, midday, and PM peak frequency. Very painful/tedious, though. I imagine whomever tries doing the same with DC will run into the same tedium...

by Froggie on Apr 25, 2009 7:07 am  

Michael Perkins, you're probably looking at an old schedule. The 171 runs every half-hour every day (between Lorton and Huntington) and has been doing so since November 2008. ( http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/connector/pdf/rt_171_web.pdf )

by Wes on Apr 28, 2009 7:46 pm  

Wes, thanks for pointing that out. After looking at the 171, the REX and the combination of 151/152/162/161, I stand by my previous statement to exclude this corridor from the map.

Taking the northbound example at Ladson Lane, there are 6 buses traveling per hour around the noon hour. The REX is at around :25 and :55, the 171 is at :35 and :05, and the 152 and 161 are around :05 and :10 respectively (the 161 actually picks up the route somewhat northward of here).

That means that between the 162 and the REX is about a 15 minute gap, and there's about a 20 minute gap between the 171 and the REX.

Six buses an hour is good service for mid-day along that corridor, but it doesn't get you "on the map" if it's three buses within 10 minutes and then another group 15 minutes later, and then one more bus 20 minutes after that. The buses should be frequent and fairly regular, something I saw on other routes.

Remember that the whole point was that for routes on the corridor, people won't have to check the schedule. I'd definitely check the schedule if I knew I would be waiting up to 20 minutes for a bus.

by Michael Perkins on Apr 29, 2009 10:32 am  

The RideOn 12 and 13 both meet up at Wayne and Manchester and run to Wayne and Flower to Flower and Carroll to the Takoma metro on the exact same route. RideOn 18 meets up with these two routes and runs from Flower and Carroll to the Takoma metro on the same route as the 12 and 13.

With three lines on the exact same 1.4 mile stretch from Flower ave and Caroll ave in Takoma Park, MD to the Takoma metro, I think this has a good chance of meeting your criteria. I'm not sure if the 2 lines sharing a long stretch on Flower Ave will meet the criteria.

On the overall system map, this stretch is labeled "12,13,18" from Flower/Caroll to the metro http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/DOT/transit/SystemMap.pdf

And the maps/schedules for 12/13/18:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/tsvtmpl.asp?url=/content/dot/transit/routesandschedules/allroutes/route012.asp

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/tsvtmpl.asp?url=/content/dot/transit/routesandschedules/allroutes/route013.asp

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/tsvtmpl.asp?url=/content/dot/transit/routesandschedules/allroutes/route018.asp

I should have mentioned this earlier, but just yesterday when I walked to the bus stop without even knowing the time or the bus schedule, I remembered what a convenient bus line this was.

by Shawn on May 6, 2009 4:58 pm  

I've never used many of the RideOn buses, but after looking at the system-wide map I posted, I wonder if there are more "12 minute" lines to be found there. Is it up to date? It looks like there are 5-7 lines running along the same stretch of Georgia Ave from the Wheaton metro to Silver Spring metro and 5 lines running along from the Bethesda metro to Silver Spring metro East-West ave. I've never used these lines and I haven't looked at the schedule, but with 5 lines, wouldn't each one running even every hour be enough to qualify them for this 12 minute line status?

RE: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/DOT/transit/SystemMap.pdf

by Shawn on May 6, 2009 5:07 pm  

Definitely wish WMATA would publish it's own, public version of this. Combined with the NextBus system, I might actually get to where I want to go on TIME with the bus system in this town.

by altgirldelete on Jun 5, 2009 11:24 am