"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 18:20:45 on Fri, 11 Jan
2013, tim..... remarked:

147. A 2011 study suggested 30 per cent of passengers take longer
routes
due to the out-of-scale distances on the Tube map.

I'm very skeptical of that claim.

It may be true for the isolated case Paddington to Bond Street via Baker
Street/Notting Hill Gate: "Although the second route is considerably
slower (by about 15 per cent), some 30 per cent of travellers chose it,
Professor Guo found."

I don't see that he can conclude that it's got anything to do with the
journey "looking" shorted.

That's what academics do - they study things and come to conclusions.

Yes, but that doesn't make those conclusions right.


In the case of catching a train from Padd it could easily be because
access to the circle line platforms is simpler.

Erm, both routes he was comparing were from the Circle platforms.

Oh

Who would do that, now that you also have to change at Edgware road?

Surely anyone deciding that "change at Baker St" is the way to go is then
going to seek out the platform that has direct trains. And the circle line
isn't it!

Here's another one:

What's the optimum route from Waterloo to King's Cross?

Well known to be via Oxford Circus. Because of the cross-platform change.

The shortest route on the ground (whichever way that is)

Did you read the article *at all*?

Yes.

Hint: it includes a geographic map as well.

ps The shortest route on the ground is probably via Leicester Square
(second shortest via Warren St) in both cases the Beck map quite closely
resembling the geographic one.

I'm not suggesting otherwise.

I'm only questioning this assertion that the "right" way that people should
choose to go can be usefully constructed from the shortest route on the
ground, and that if they don't do this they have done something wrong.

Surely the "right way" is the quickest including average connection time(s)
regardless of the length of track that is traversed.