Tom Anderson wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jan 2008, Mizter T wrote:

(snip)


This is how things are done in Tyne & Wear - see:

http://www.nexus.org.uk/ufs/shared/i...ne_Map_Col.pdf

The numbering logic behind the zones seems bizarre at first sight -
the zone numbers ascend in a sort of diagonal sweep from the south
west to the north east of the metropolitan county of T&W.

Surely north west to south east? Oh, you mean like a raster? Yes, i see -
the lines of the raster run SW-NE, and the raster progresses NW-SE.

The diagonal is basically the axis parallel to the Tyne, isn't it? At
least, the downstream reach. It's akin to Stanford's 'logical north'.

However I think it may be designed this was to make it easy to issue and
- crucially - verify the validity of tickets with zonal combinations
that are in a row or in a ring (think of a busy bus driver checking
tickets).

Yes, and each line in the raster has its own leading digit, with the
second digit increasing along it, so that the corresponding zones in each
line are adjacent. Although 58-60 are special cases: they should be 65, 66
and 75, respectively.


You describe it a lot more eloquently than I could - but yes, that was
what I was trying to express, each of the two digits have meaning.


It'd be fun to do a version of that map coloured by the orthogonal
elements of the zone numbers; say, number 0x in red to 5x in violet, and
x3 in a pale shade to x9 in a dark one. Or with patterns of dots or
stripes instead of shade, so you can see at a glance how the coordinate
meanders across the map.


Yes, indeed, though I'm not sure how useful that'd be to the average
punter! My alternative would involve massively simplifying the whole
system! But of course, that would need the agreement of all the bus
companies involved,


Note that the Tyne ferry has zone 38 all to itself.

39. I wonder which zones it counts as being adjacent to? Any which have
piers, i suppose.

38, 39, it's all the same to me - so it's probably just as well I'm
not a bus driver on Tyneside or Wearside, I'd be letting on people
with all sorts of wrong zonal Traveltickets! (Though dare I suggest
that I might get along ok in London, given the total disinterest that
some drivers seem to have when it comes to checking tickets!)

The Tyne ferry sails between North and South Shields, so the adjacent
zones would be 29 and 38.


The '4 zones in a ring' option is described as 'any 3 zones in a ring plus
one adjacent zone'; does that mean i could have three in a ring and one
touching just one of them? 56, 58, 59 and 60, say?


From my reading of things, yes that looks like a legit combination.

Incidentally you can buy Travelticket renewals online on the website
of Nexus (the T&W PTE) - select the first option, "Network
Travelticket", to be taken into the system...
https://www.nexus.org.uk/wps/wcm/con...ickets+online/

....and you will find something interesting - the online system is
incapable of selling the "4 zones in a ring" combination! It seems
that if you want such a ticket you'll have to go and deal with someone
face to face.

Casual travellers will be happy to note that the T&W Metro operates a
far simpler concentric zone system, zones A, B and C...
http://tinyurl.com/3acd76

....though of course valid Network Traveltickets (i.e. those with the
correct numbered zones) are accepted on the Me'ro.


And just to prove that things can change for the better, the
"Transfare" ticket scheme has recently been simplified - these are
tickets that allow for through journeys from bus to Metro or vice-
versa. However, perhaps just so as to ensure things don't get too
simple the new Transfare scheme has introduced the new idea of
concentric yellow, green, and grey zones - thankfully these do
actually correspond with the Metro's concentric A, B and C zones, and
they also share the same colours except for Metro zone C being a shade
of violet whilst the outer Transfare zone is grey. I suppose the logic
is that the Transfare grey zone covers much more ground than the Metro
C zone.

Anyhow, here is a page on the new Transfare ticket scheme...
http://www.nexus.org.uk/wps/wcm/conn...etro+Transfare

....and this leaflet shows the new Transfare yellow/green/grey zones
(PDF)...
http://www.nexus.org.uk/wps/wcm/reso...fare%20map.pdf

The world is complicated!