Abstract
The effect of bus route names on elderly transit riders' route-finding performance was investigated. A survey of public transit companies indicated that most identify routes with names and numbers, plus color coding, and that most route names correspond to the streets on which the routes travel or to the route's destinations. A survey of college undergraduate students indicated a preference for route names that included "North", "South", "East", or "West" to indicate the area of the city in which a route travels. The maps and timetables from the Vancouver, Washington bus system were used to test trip-planning performance; this system was selected because (1) its map and timetable package met many of the criteria in previous literature for ease of use and (2) Vancouver is an unfamiliar city to most residents of Bryan-College Station, Texas, where this study was conducted. Two versions of the materials were prepared; "North", "South", etc. were added to the bus route names in one version of the materials. Thirty-two Bryan-College Station residents, aged 55 years and older, were each given one version of the route guidance materials and asked to plan three trips on the bus using those materials. No significant difference in trip-planning accuracy or speed was realized between the two groups of test participants. Very few participants used route names to select the routes they needed, relying instead on route numbers and colors. On the questionnaire which followed the trip-planning exercise, participants ranked route names as the least helpful route-finding tool, below color coding and route numbers. Problems encountered by participants during the trip-planning process and their comments and suggestions indicate that color coding, map detail and the addition of map use examples and/or instructions may be important issues for future investigation.
Higgins, Laura Lynne (1993). Route guidance information for elderly passengers: route naming methods. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1993 -THESIS -H636.