On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:16:51 -0000, West Yorkshire Bus
wrote:

I have just come back from a trip to London and am wondering, am I
right in thinking that there are no walk in travel centres like I've
come to expect elsewhere in the UK anywhere in London

The Travel Information Centres that TfL advertise seem to be no more
than a glorified tube station ticket window or bus station inspector's
window. You have to ask for what publicity you want and then you have
to know what to ask for, and I'm sure they don't like giving out any
more than 1 or 2 items per person

[snip]
Considering TfL seem to at least from a visitor's point of view have
it all sorted, these issues seem strange, I would have thought that
TfL would have a huge budget to spend on all kinds of maps and
leaflets

To call it strange is an understatement. I cannot fathom TfL's approach
to bus information at all and I find the absence of decent, high quality
travel centres to be bizarre. As an example of better practice
elsewhere Lothian Buses manage to run 3 shops in central Edinburgh
including one which is open on Sundays and it does a very good passing
trade from observations earlier this year. Timetables are all on display
and available for you to take - to get a moderately decent map you had
to ask and again there is no "integrated" transport map showing all
buses and trains which is a big gap for me. TfL travel info centres are
often open 7 days in the centre of town but as you say they are not what
you call welcoming and information leaflets appear to have the status of
a trade secret. Quite how so many people manage to use the bus network
with next to no easy to use information to hand I don't know.

TfL seem to assume that everyone has internet access and has scrapped
anything resembling decent portable information on its bus services.
Local guides have been scrapped, decent timetables have been scrapped
and the quadrant bus maps were threatened with withdrawal and I
personally believe they will go sooner rather than later. The approach
seems to centre on "simple" information being provided at stops but stop
specific timetables are often inaccurate and in my view utterly
unhelpful. I have lost count of the people who look at the one at my
local stop and then come away mystified as to when their next bus will
turn up - this is because it says something stupid like every 9-11
minutes rather than actually tell them buses come at 07,17,27,37,47 and
57 minutes past the hour (which is what the real contracted timetable
does actually say).

Having the Journey Planner is all well and good but it is not a
substitute for a decent guide to services that people can carry with
them or consult at their leisure. I happened to pick up a copy of
Brighton and Hove's "Bus Times" guide at the weekend. This is a
comprehensive and excellent guide to Brighton's buses. There are full
clear timetables, fares information, bus type info, very detailed bus
maps, accessibility information for every route and a mini route map for
every service at the head of the timetable. There is also good
integration information with rail services and info on special bargain
tickets, Plus Bus and other initiatives. I thought it was an excellent,
well pitched document that is easy to read and understand and which a
"novice" bus user could easily use to get them using bus services. As a
potential visitor to the Brighton it is nice to have all the necessary
info to hand if I decide I want to travel around by bus and I also know
that there tickets I can buy in advance that mean I don't have to fumble
for money for each bus ride.

Now if only TfL could spend some of their financial surplus on doing
something like that for respective areas of London and getting it
through people's letter boxes and available on buses, in bus stations
and at tube / railway stations I would be very happy indeed. Instead
there is a load of money being spent on "personal travel plans" and
other such stuff which may yield benefits in time but which seem a very
expensive way of engaging with the travelling public.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!