nfitz
Superstar
It's horrible. Looks like the express routes are a branch of the subway line.
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TTC Cartography, Signage, and Wayfinding
- Thread starter 299 bloor call control.
- Start date
Amare
Senior Member
Byford and his henchman spend all this time and money into rebranding, and they still cant even get it right. At first glance, I thought the green dots indicated that the express bus makes stops at those intersections. Then I go see the Jane Express, and there are white green dots. Not to mention the frequent service lines look like they can be mistaken for a subway line (as mentioned above) and the whole thing just becomes a complete mess. Oh, and let's not mention the possible confusion between GO Transit's green, and the TTC's express green.
It's like they make everything they touch even worse than before. First the subway maps (asides from the numbering), then the airport bus wraps, now this.
It's like they make everything they touch even worse than before. First the subway maps (asides from the numbering), then the airport bus wraps, now this.
nfitz
Superstar
I'm fine with the other 2. And there's not much cost in this - it's just some online graphics.
robmausser
Senior Member
Yeah, the green dots on the express bus is literally the most confusing thing ever. Who saw that and said "yeah this indicates you don't stop at these stops"
WOW. Complete fail.
WOW. Complete fail.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Tiger is not impressed.
Do they field test these things? Do they ask focus groups to get from point A to point B using these maps?
W. K. Lis
Superstar
I would have added small white dots (period size [.]?) for the local stops on the frequent & regular service lines. No names, keep the major stop names.
JayBeeGooner
Active Member
I don't get it. So the night bus only stops at a 5 stops? Someone looking at that map would assume the local and express routes only stop at major roads.
What an awful map.
What an awful map.
P23
Active Member
It looks so similar to the previous ones that I'm sure it's probably the same person who has been churning them out for decades. The TTC is just hopeless at wayfinding and graphic design in general. They do lots of little projects that never go anywhere or improve things very much when they could save that money and have a proper design agency do a complete overhaul with a consistent design language. If Translink managed to do it why can't the TTC?
Napoleon
Active Member
This was a good test for me, as it's a route I've never taken. I too was quite confused by the express bus. Take a look at what NYC does:
http://web.mta.info/maps/submap.html
They put the express and local trains on the same line. The open circles indicate that all trains stop there and the filled circles indicate that just local trains stop there. They then have an annotation next to the stop indicating which lines stop there, so for example 96th street just gets the local 6 train, whereas 86th street gets the "4-5-6" trains. That might have been what they're going for, but when I see the express line separated out, I would imagine the universal default assumption is that the line stops at the filled circles.
Criticism aside, the style is easier to read than the older maps. They've been testing a similar design out on the 94 for a while now. It certainly makes the branching a bit easier to figure out (once they stop re-lettering it).
Electrify
Senior Member
Pretty sure that the 95E does stop at the green dots. According to the legend, between the subway and Markham Rd it stops ONLY at those green dots. After Markham Rd, it makes all stops. I also like W.K. Lis' suggestion about local stops, but I would make it so that they would be little dashes like the London Tube map.
wopchop
Building Toronto
This doesn't really make sense. Look at the line map. From York Mills to Bellamy, all the dots are green. From Markham Road to UofT, all the dots are white. It says that the 95E runs express from York Mills station to Markham Road then all stops to UofT, which leads me to believe that green dots = no stop, and white dots = stops.
Napoleon
Active Member
That is indeed consistent with the wordy text on the left side. This map was definitely not tested!
wopchop
Building Toronto
If they want to show multiple lines for multiple routes (as opposed to the MTA example, which shows multiple trains on a single line), then the simplest solution would be to ... not show a dot where it doesn't stop. I don't understand why you would bother to show the green dots at all and then label them as express stops, with a definition that means you don't stop at them. Major fail.
The white dots, at least, are consistent with the stops for the other bus routes.
Amare
Senior Member
This is the TTC we're speaking of here. Do you really think they have the foresight to do something like that?
I wish we could get some behind the scenes footage on what management (not the commissioners) do on a day to day basis. That would be entertaining to watch.