WMATA creates 15-minute bus map

Transit

WMATA creates 15-minute bus map

by Michael Perkins • November 21, 2010 12:13 pm

After we suggested making a map of high-frequency bus routes or combinations of routes and I attempted making a 12-minute map, Metro planners created one. On the new PlanItMetro blog, Metro released a draft 15-minute bus map highlighting bus routes or combinations of routes that run every 15 minutes or more.

Image from Wikimedia.

This is an important step in getting people acquainted with using buses more frequently to travel places where there is no Metrorail station. The full Metrobus maps have all the routes on them, even those that travel only a few times per day. No markings designate routes that operate during rush hour only, or are weekday only.

This frequent network map would encourage Metrorail customers to give Metrobus a try, because you don't have to worry about schedules.

The draft map shows the Metrobus routes scheduled at least every 15 minutes from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays. This is a fairly low threshold to cross, compared to other transit areas, whose "High Frequency Maps" include a higher standard of service every 12 minutes (Los Angeles example), and service that operates 7 days per week. Metro chose these criteria because more stringent criteria would result in very few routes being included. This could point to where the Metrobus system could improve its service.

Click to enlarge (PDF).

This is an important step to highlight Metro's most frequent routes. Policy makers should consider a few questions:

How can we get more routes on this map? What routes are close to being included and how much funding would it take? Are there route alignments that we could change to provide effectively more "frequent network" service?
How can we expand this map to weekends too, or to extend the hours earlier or later? What upgrades to routes would be necessary and how much would that cost?
How can we encourage people to use proximity to the "frequent network" as part of their marketing? Right now apartment rental ads or businesses often advertise their proximity to "Metro", meaning Metrorail. Would it be a benefit to advertise that a business is "on the frequent Metrobus network"?

20 comments

Tags: buses, maps, WMATA

Could a "12 Minute" bus map increase bus ridership? (Apr 22, 2009)
Gotta cut bus service? Let's combine and simplify routes (Jan 14, 2009)
Optimizing trunk bus lines could improve service (Feb 17, 2010)
WMATA, TheBus fail to coordinate Greenbelt bus schedules (Dec 23, 2010)
Fairfax County proposes bus route cuts (Mar 24, 2009)

Michael Perkins blogs about Metro operations and fares, performance parking, and any other government and economics information he finds on the Web. He lives with his wife and two children in Arlington, Virginia.

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Well done, Michael. It seems your advocacy is reaching WMATA. I'm excited to see them innovating, and to be soliciting feedback prior to rolling this out.

by Joey on Nov 21, 2010 12:31 pm • link • report

What this really tells me is we need streetcars on 16th and Wisconsin to replace buses...

by charlie on Nov 21, 2010 1:39 pm • link • report

They came up with an innovation that I think it a big improvement over my attempt. If a combined route adds up to be on the frequent map, they still show you where you end up after the combined segment ends. I couldn't figure out what to do then.

They need to add the frequent routes from other jurisdictions, like the circulator routes, and ART 42, for example.

by Michael Perkins on Nov 21, 2010 2:16 pm • link • report

A really good start. Two suggested improvements:

The thick lines don't do the map any favors, and make it hard to read. Maybe they could do a solid/dotted/dashed arrangement to do this?

The "inset area" of downtown could be expanded north up to Columbia Heights. I know this would come at the expense of the rest of the map, but it seems logical to dedicate more "real estate" to the portion of the bus network that gets used most. Not sure how they'd rearrange things to do this, but the downtown portions are awfully hard to read.

by andrew on Nov 21, 2010 3:24 pm • link • report

Great idea. They do this in LA and it really helped aquaint me with the "must-know" bus routes. Typically Metro puts 3 maps on display outside every station entrance: Rail, Bus, and 12-minute service.

by Chris Loos on Nov 21, 2010 3:55 pm • link • report

My comments on PlanItMetro:

Great stuff, very helpful! A few comments though, much in the vein of what's been said:

The shading around the routes indicating increasing frequency are hard to distinguish to the average reader, and will be near to or completely impossible for riders with visual impairments. The information communicated is important, but perhaps it would be advisable to use 3 distinct line types, say dotted for 4 buses/hr, dot-dash for 5/hr, and solid for 6+/hr. In doing this, you can thicken the actual route lines making them and their colors better distinguishable.

It would definitely be helpful to consider a more diagrammatic approach. The intimidating thing about the standard bus map is that it is so large and contains so much geographic information on it. In fact, I actually use my DC/VA system map as my go-to map of the district when showing visitors where things are. The point of a high-frequency network map, though is help dilute some of the most important information from the full system map and making it more easily digestible by the riding public. Most of the additional riders a map like this may draw onto the bus system are likely to use it to get from activity center to activity center while out and about, not to get from home to work, or similar repetitive trips. Therefore, this target market is less likely to need to know that the SB 90s make a left turn on M street, a right turn onto the 11th Street bridges, and that there are two separate viaducts on that bridge. Most important to them is that the 90s line connects Eastern Market with historic Anacostia, that the 80 connects the Kennedy Center with downtown and Union Station, or that the Ns connect Dupont Circle and National Cathedral. To better communicate this type of information, less geographic detail and accuracy, and more diagrammatic simplicity along with a few labeled "destinations" and activity centers, I think, would be advisable.

by Erik Weber on Nov 21, 2010 6:19 pm • link • report

this map shows the D8 through trinidad as one of the lines with 4 buses per hour. i'm curious, though, if this includes other buses that run part of the same route (like the D4 and D3). in addition, the route splits in trinidad, running one-way on the montello avenue/trinidad avenue pair, but that isn't represented on this map.

by Geoffrey Hatchard on Nov 21, 2010 6:25 pm • link • report

It's a lofty goal to provide service frequent enough where getting on a bus is faster than getting in your car. Good luck with that.

by Lou on Nov 21, 2010 6:31 pm • link • report

I cannot tell you the number the times I have seen tourist waiting midday/weekend/holiday at a Metro bus stop at Arlington National Cemetery. The signs have no clue about the hours of operations. Ditto for Constitution Avenue by the Vietnam Memorial. Not tourist friendly at all!

by Tour guide on Nov 21, 2010 6:34 pm • link • report

The 30's buses on Wisconsin may come 6 times an hour but at times, they only come two or three times, in bunches, which is not nearly as helpful.

by Jay on Nov 22, 2010 7:35 am • link • report

This map still needs some work as it has one of the MetroRail lines going from Columbia Hts to Brookland. I like the frequency idea, but agree that it the threshold needs to be lowered to 10 or 12 minutes.

by Rob on Nov 22, 2010 9:28 am • link • report

My thoughts:

1. This map does a great job of showing where frequency is highest amongst common route segments, but fades away in the branches of those segments. Intuitively, we all know that the 30s (for example) share a common route through the center of town and then branch out, but this map helps show that better than any other. The inclusion of the branches also helps a rider know how far they can get on the common segment before they must worry about catching a separate bus.

Using the "highlight" around the common segment while keeping the rest of the route as a simple line is quite effective.

2. Ideally, you'd have all the regional buses that meet the frequency threshold on this same map. I think including rail is a mistake for now, given that rail has more or less a set frequency threshold, and adding Metro in would clutter the map and not add much information.

3. The threshold for frequency needs work. Having 3 separate thresholds (every 10, 12, and 15 minutes) is confusing. I appreciate the desire to get all that information on the map, but (as noted) the color variations aren't strong enough. There should be one threshold.

by Alex B. on Nov 22, 2010 9:44 am • link • report

@Rob:
Good catch. The line actually goes to Fort Totten, but Fort Totten is mislabeled as "Brookland-CUA".

Another element that might be confusing is the labeling of certain bus lines. For example, the C2 runs between Greenbelt Center and Wheaton all day. Except for 2 or 3 trips in the evening, where it runs to Randolph/Parklawn to replace the C4.

Metro should really figure out a way to indicate that that bus is a part time bus on that section of the route.

by Matt Johnson on Nov 22, 2010 9:46 am • link • report

Thanks everyone for your comments on our work here. I'm really pleased with all the positive feedback.

I wanted to thank Rob for realizing I had mislabeled some of the eastern red line stations. I've fixed that and will upload it shortly.

I'm pleased to see that people here are commenting as well as on our site, PlanItMetro.com. I'll generally only respond to comments on our own site, though, so make sure your most compelling arguments are logged there as well as here.

I just posted a summary of our thoughts on a lot of the comments left here and on our site.

by Michael PlanItMetro on Nov 22, 2010 10:13 am • link • report

See more discussion of this map, on Human Transit, here:

http://www.humantransit.org/2010/11/washington-dc-agency-seeks-comment-on-frequent-network-map.html#comments

by Jarrett Walker on Nov 22, 2010 5:32 pm • link • report

When the 12-minute map was created here, I pointed out that the 16 series running along Columbia Pike in Arlington consists entirely of buses that reach either Pentagon or Pentagon City -- all routes reach one Metro station or the other. This map awkwardly (if technically accurately) suggests that service cuts off at the former Citgo station at the Pike and South Joyce.

by Beau on Nov 22, 2010 11:53 pm • link • report

...that and also now the 16G individually and the 16ADJ as a group now reach the 15 minute threshold for being displayed on the own, (combined they run at a frequency of 7.5 minutes) so you can have the lines extend to Pentagon and Pentagon City.

by Wes on Nov 23, 2010 3:12 pm • link • report

Nice work, too bad it points up the limited availability of public transit. I'd like to see another map that shows all-night service.

by John H on Nov 24, 2010 12:00 pm • link • report

This map would be much more useful if it were combined with RideOn and other bus service. For example, the stretch of East-West Hwy near the SS Metro has very frequent bus service if you count both WMATA and RideOn busses, but you can't tell that from this map.

by Elizabeth on Nov 30, 2010 9:39 am • link • report

While adding RideOn busses could help, the map does highlight how terrible current bus service is down MD-410 (and most east-west routes north of Columbia Heights.
For MD-410 even with the RideOn busses, there are regularly 20 minute gaps of service between Silver Spring metro and the other end of the Red Line (Friendship Heights, Bethesda, Medical Center). Based on the fact that Purple Line research shows this is a highly trafficked corridor, this really highlights how undeserved this area currently is by mass transit.

by Dan on Nov 30, 2010 10:02 am • link • report