London Banter - View Single Post

Colin Rosenstiel · August 21st 05, 07:24 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 15:56 +0100 (BST), (Colin
Rosenstiel) wrote:

In article ,
(Helen Deborah Vecht) wrote:

I'd entered my HA8 5LW postcode as my start and 'Royal Albert
Hall' as my destination. Why was JP so dismal? What could I have
done for a better suggestion?

Others have made the suggestion of mangling the options to the point
where it is telling you what you already know.

I do find it very odd that to get the wretched thing to do something
even half sensible you actually have to have a pre-existing
knowledge of the transport network that the average person would
not have at all. Why send people round the houses by tube for a
trip that can work well using two buses?

My point was that I didn't go that far. I chose an option, "Route with
the least walking between stops" which seemed better to reflect Helen's
mobility, and it came up with more sensible suggestions.

You're not alone in being disappointed by the recent performance
of TfL's Journey Planner. It seems to have become infected by
transportdirect.info.

Heaven help us then. I've tried to use transport direct and found it
utterly useless. Some of the traveline search engines are OK but
I wish they would standardise on a format - the different user
interfaces for each region are incredibly annoying and often not
remotely intuitive.

Yes, I've been worried by TfL's JP performance recently.

Its suggestions for my journey to work are laughable, not between home
and King's Cross (apart from suggesting using a Guide Friday bus to
Cambridge station) but from there to work. It sends me on the
Piccadilly to Leicester Square and on the 24 and 77A from there to
work, taking a helluvalot longer than it takes me when I don't have my
bike via the Victoria and Jubilee lines to Westminster.

It did (at the second attempt) make a sensible suggestion for the
homeward journey which is actually what I do without the bike, St
James's Park to victoria and thence to KXSP by Victoria Line. The walk
from London Victoria to London Victoria looks rather weird.

It also doesn't allow me to cycle to the station. :-(

--
Colin Rosenstiel