On Dec 2, 8:13 pm, "Richard J." wrote:
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 03:23:03 -0800 (PST), MIG
wrote:
The approach of the TfL information seems to be "Tell us where you
are and where you want to go at precisely what moment, and we'll
work out what's good for you".

I hadn't seen it like that before but I think that's not too far off
the mark with the emphasis on the Journey Planner.

It is in fact a major strategic fault of the Journey Planner's design. Most
people will not know in advance *precisely* when they will start their
journey. Even if you specify an ideal arrival time, you can't guarantee to
be able to start the journey at the precise time needed for the recommended
route to work.

For many journeys, the JP will offer a bewildering variety of routes, many
dependent on infrequent services. That means that if one connection is
missed because of a late-running service, you're stuffed. I've even seen
some routes in central London that are dependent on bus services that are
not only infrequent but also are non-TfL and on which Travelcards are not
valid!

The type of recommendation that most people want is a route that offers a
reasonably fast route (compared with the fastest possible) with not too many
changes and on which there is a frequent service. You can then choose that
route with confidence even if you're a few minutes adrift from your target
start time. The Journey Planner is sadly hopeless at meeting that common
requirement.


Also, although Paul is right about the surprising elegance of some of
the routes it comes up with, it doesn't allow me to, say, plan how to
visit a particular shop or meet someone on the way which happens to be
on a route that takes ten minutes longer than the ideal one it's
selling me. Simple timetables would allow me to plan such things at a
glance.

Instead I spend double the time having to do two searches on the
journey planner, remembering to go to the advanced options that stop
it giving modes of transport that bypass my meeting place, etc etc.

Incidentally, is it a new bug that makes it clear your search when you
realise that you need advanced options? I keep having to enter my
places again, but I don't think it was always like that.