FSP 1.1

Dynamic Three Layer map of NYC

Dynamap of Manhattan uses three interlaced images to display three different
maps of Manhattan -- a street map, a subway map, and one showing landmarks
and neighborhoods -- all onto the same surface. Tilt it to one side and you see the
street map, tilt it another way and you see the subway map. Easily determine
the exact street intersections of subway stops.

Buy your own for $17 from Dynamap.

Caltrain changes-to-Schedule FAQ

Caltrain's changes-to-schedule FAQ is unusually frank and human-readable.

This FAQ presents actual data and actual reasons for schedule changes and
decisions, in place of the typical bureaucratic marketingese,
'With our world class best of breed enhancements...' nonsense or
self-congratulatory 'why we are so good' dreck of a psueduo-FAQ.

Well done Caltrain.

Actual questions answered honestly:
* Why is my station getting reduced service?
* After the "faster schedule" hype, why is my travel time longer?
* Can't you improve Limited (stops at most stations) and
Local (stops at all stations) transfer possibilities?
* Why are trains scheduled in bunches?
* If I need to use an adjacent station, can I find parking?

LIRR system, fare maps

LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) publishes various maps, some showing routes
and branches, some showing fare zones. I haven't yet found a map combining
fare zones and routes.

LIRR system 'branch' map

Also, I haven't yet found a map showing transfer points for each route.
Sure you might have to transfer at Hicksville, and Hickville is indeed shown
on the map, but Hicksville is not shown as a transfer point, so you cannot
learn from the map that your transfer will be at Hicksville.

Compare to this example map showing explicit transfer point:

Other LIRR maps: Fare zone map.

Combined map: fare zones 1 though 14 (NYC to Montauk)

JFK-AirTrain Part 2 - LIRR Access Information

The entrance to Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from JFK AirTrain Jamaica --
this station ingress enjoys a number of well executed features.

Wayfinding:
In addition to the colour coded signs, the lighting and geometry
of the antechamber, the large logo and collection of monitors and
ticket vending machine all combine to focus attention on this corner
which leads to the LIRR tracks.

Ergonomic:
The monitors are placed overhead so passengers simply look up
rather than queue to choose a train, and to see the specifics of their
train. These monitors are tilted down to maximize readability and
reduce glare.

Task Oriented:
By positioning the monitors and the ticket vending machine together,
passengers can make an informed decision about where and
when to buy tickets, and whether to rush or dawdle to the train
platform.

If a passenger has a few minutes to spare, he can buy more
tickets. If he's about to miss his train, he can rush ahead and
buy a ticket on the train (for a service fee).

The overhead monitors list the next train to DESTINATION at
TIME on TRACK, sorted by direction
(one monitor for westbound, one for eastbound).

Each monitor is then sorted by time of departure, and the various
destinations are represented by a consistent colouring scheme.
eg Huntington is always dark blue.

The monitors also show the correct local time, so there's no asking,
I see there is an 8:44 PM train to huntington, and it's on time;
has it left yet ? Is 8:44 before of after now ?

Eastbound (aka 'Outbound') train info:
(different destinations are represented by different colors)

Note that these colors are consistent with the line/branch colours
used on the system maps.

Westbound (going into the NY City) info:

Previously: JFK AirTrain Opens Part 1: dream vs reality

Audi CPO

Audi Certified Pre-Owned
has a multifaced browsing ability.

Browse
* by model
* by model year
* brows by price

Sure beats going to AutoTrader and requesting a list of 1995 Audi TT from
$40,000 to $55,000 and returning null.

After you find an Audi model/year, you can immediately else what else is
in that price range. Compared to a two year old A6, how old an A8 would I
get in the same price range ? Is a 4 year old A6 wrth more or less than a
two year old A4 ? Answer that with zero clicks right here, right now.

Great use of context customize the showing of truly related information.

Zoom in on the TT or see the whole fleet.

There are some nice cursor tracking and zooming in on what the cursor's over
settings in this Flash, too.

Widgetopia would glean the utility of this pricing matrix.

bad map: 511.org strikes again.

This inane map of the worthy ACERail system from transit.511.org
labels cities, but

* does not indicate which cities have train stations
(According to this map, does Union City have a stop ? Does Newark ?) ; and

* does not indicate how many train stations are in each city [*]; and

* does not indicate where the stations are; and

* does not indicate which roads this rail line is near.
(Yes, those faint red lines are major highways.)

[*] Santa Clara City has two stations: Great America Santa Clara and Santa Clara.

Much better is the official ACERail map:

Compare to the ACERider collection of ACE maps.

Previously on FSP: 511.org botch map of San Francisco transit service.

511 maps

The new 511, the official transportation information website for the SF Bay area
combines
* terrible information arcitecture,
* a user-hostile interface, and
* gruesome cartography. (The Thomas Brothers' printed maps aren't half bad,
I don't know who is to blame for bungling the digital edition shown here.)

Example of the new 511: This blotchy map of SF MUNI bus route 48.
(Note the map itself has no route label)

Could you plan a trip with such a map ?

Muni (San Francisco Municipal Railway) Route: 48 - Quintara-24th Street - Ocean Beach to Potrero Hill.

And the helpful key distinguishes Ocean/Bay from mere water

See also a more vigorous critique.

Compare to

Overview:

Detail:

About Page Two

Page Two is a feature here at FSP which provides a category of meta data,
to explain what the recurring links in FSP are. Presently, the recurring
links are presented in the LINKS section in the leftmost column, towards
the bottom.

Rather than just throw up a list of unexplained links with an implicit
click here, FSP gives you a reason to click.

Or better, Page Two gives you context, and you decide if you're
further interested.

Better Transit Info sells more trips

17 September 2003
Research suggests that better passenger information may contribute
to a 5%-25% increase in public transport trips.

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) examines how the sector
can enhance passenger information during its 3rd Conference on Travel
Information, which opens in Gothenburg, Sweden, today.

“In an increasingly information dominated world, intelligent travel choices have
to be marketed just as consumer products are,” stated UITP General Secretary
Hans Rat. “When a consumer buys a new product he or she will find instructions
on how to use it. Public transport products are no different, so our consumers
need to be informed and guided in their use of our product. Choosing the best
itinerary according to personal needs and preferences implies having precise
information about the transport system. It is pointless to provide a service if your
customers are unaware of it.”

Bringing opportune information to passengers can vastly improve the travelling
experience. Time spent waiting for a vehicle or connection, for example, is
perceived as shorter if the waiting time is known. A strong and coherent
communication strategy also greatly increases public transport’s visibility and
profile, which will result in a better positioning of the public transport sector.

Indeed, as privatisation and deregulation spread, the need for good information
becomes ever greater because of the complex interactions between operators
and organising authorities in competitive markets.

“Effectively, the positive aspects of travel information increase public transport
usage,” continued Mr Rat. “Information on its own cannot work miracles, but
research suggests that better information may contribute to a 5%-25% increase
in trips. A well-designed information strategy can really tip the balance between
success and failure.”

UITP is organising this Conference to drive home the message that high quality
travel information must form an integral part of the public transport product, and
to come to a better understanding of users’ perspectives and needs. The main
theme of the conference is how technology can help provide better travel
information for the customer.

On the occasion of this Conference - organised in collaboration with
InformNorden (the Scandinavian organisation for IT in public transport),
Västtrafik (the public transport authority of west Sweden) and the City of
Gothenburg – UITP is launching a good practice guide entitled Towards an
Integrated Travel Information System. This handbook examines twelve current
challenges, and provides solutions, proposals and 70 worldwide good practice
cases of how to develop and implement an efficient information strategy.

From UITP.

***
Notes for editors
• Founded in 1885, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) is the international organisation for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public transport supply and service industry. It is a platform for worldwide co-operation and the sharing of know-how between its 2,500 members from some 80 countries. For more information about UITP or the Travel Information Conference, contact UITP’s Communications Department: Cara McLaughlin (Tel: +32 2 6636639; Fax: +32 2 6736100; cara.mclaughlin@uitp.com) or Stéphanie Loozen (Tel: +32 2 661 31 99; Fax: +32 2 6601072; stephanie.loozen@uitp.com) or visit www.uitp.com/Events/goteborg/en/.
• The UITP Conference is being held on the occasion of the annual Public Transport 2003 Congress and Exhibition at the Swedish Exhibition Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden (18-20 September). Public Transport 2003 is being organised by the Swedish Exhibition Centre in association with the Bus & Coach Federation Sweden (BR) and the Swedish Public Transport Association (SLTF). Some 130 exhibitors from 10 countries will be showing new products and services, giving a complete and efficient overview of the market offer. For more information about the Public Transport 2003 Exhibition, please contact Lena Kidner (Tel: +46 31 708 80 00; lena.kidner@swefair.se). For more information about the Public Transport 2003 Congress programme, please contact Anita Stenhardt, SLTF (Tel: +46 8 788 08 69; anita.stenhardt@sltf.se) or Anna Grönlund, BR (Tel: +46 8 4620650; anna.gronlund@bussbranschen.se). A press centre is accessible via the entrance on Mässans gata 12. This press centre will be manned by press hostesses, and will be equipped with desks, PCs, telephones, faxes, copier and storage lockers. You will also find press material from exhibitors. It will be open from 07.30 hours, Thursday 18 September (Tel: +46 31 708 85 50). Press information: Tel: +46 31 708 80 00; Fax: +46 31 708 84 60; press@swefair.se; www.persontrafik.info.

Station Vicinity Map

A good transit station map shows pedestrian routes, station ingress and egress,
station in context of its neighbouring streets and buildings, and the location of
amenities, from bus stops to bike lockers to ticket vending machines. And shows
the parking facility, differentiating handicapted, kiss and ride, standing,
short term, long term, and handicapped paces.

Bad: (From ACERail)

Better:
(Click to enlarge; from LIRR)

QuickMaps

QuickMap has some excellent maps.

For example, mouse over the 'full system/frequent/very frequent'
buttons on this London map.

With a good map, you can ask and easily and accurately answer,
Where can I go from here ?
To go there, where can I start from ?

For a complex system such as the London Underground,
Which line should I take ?
Where should I transfer ?

Apple Music

My first night with the Apple Music store was a month ago.
This post is mostly about my 1980s-centric taste with a few
usability issues thrown in. I'll highlight my top five pics
for Gothamist.

Looking back, I see I owe my tastes to the CBC's Brave New Waves
from about 1983 to 1988. That nightly show was (and to an
extent, still is) a testament to how much you can do with a
small budget spent wisely on research (beyond a subscription
to _NME_, but that's a starting point beyond most radio producers'
grasp) rather than on C-list celebrities and promotion.
Huge thanks to show co-founder, and first producer and host
Augusta LaPaix.

Another legacy of my listening to BNW is that its airtime of
11:30 PM - 5:30 AM forever conditioned me to be a non-morning
person.

In the Apple Music Store I first searched for and didn't find:

Cabaret Voltaire
Radiohead
The Fall
The The / Matt Johnson Update: now found
Nina Hagen. I want her _New York_ or _Smack Jack_ at karaoke.
Aphix Twin
Dead Can Dance
Prodigy -- from _Smack My Bitch Up_ and before
Housemartins
Beautiful South
Wise Guys
MC 900 Foot Jesus
Einsturzende Neubauten top 5 nominee: YÜ-GUNG (FÜTTER MEIN EGO)
Coil
Wire
Chemlab
23 Skidoo
Rita Mitsouko
Nurse With Wound
Portion Control
Mitsou (but searched for _chinois_ and was recommended Vanessa Mae)
Up Bustle and Out
Modernettes
Corsage
Princess Superstar
Genesis P-Orridge / Psychic TV / Throbbing Gristle / Chris & Cosey

I did find:
Carole Pope's _High School Confidential_ is there, but on a _Queer as Folk_ soundtrack.

Joy Division and New Order top 5 nominees: Transmission (JD and NO, but the garbled JD edition was better), Crystal (NO)

People who bought Crystal Waters's _100% Pure Love_ (round and round and again) also
bought Traci Lords, who sounds like Tangerene Dream.

LL Cool J's _Bristol Hotel_, *clean* version only

Usability Issues: the web of nested and overlapping music genres
are underutilized. In addition to a
people who bought/like THIS also bought THAT
there could also be a THIS sounds like THAT.
For example, there's no listing for crunk or gangsta genres.

I miss Net Radio 365's (circa Nov. 1999) genres:
jungle acid house trance drum and base downtempo big beat big break
24 types of Ibiza mix club music

The Streets's _Original Pirate Material_ says every track is 30 seconds long.
top 5 nominee: Let’s Push Thing‘s Forward

I search for
Offspring (who really should win a Grammy)
Chemical Brothers
Madonna

I find no spell correction of elton jon to elton john

I do find at least _The Beautiful South_ and _The Pet Shop Boys_.
I can sort results by time and find the longest re-mix.

The search by song tiltle feature uncovers some interesting
cover versions.
David Bowie's _See Emily Play_ (original by pink Floyd) was good.

Bauhaus
The Crystal Method top 5 nominee: High Roller as an example of found sound vocals/narration.
Dr. Dre insrumentals (I thought this was a joke)
lots of Rush
a good collection of _Blur_ top 5 nominee (too many songs to specify)
Velvet underground was a staff recommendation
a great _Who_ collection
MC Lyte (a guilty pleasure)

The store needs a power search:
by year actually released,
by track length (search for tracks longer than 7 minutes)

If I can get extended mixes for $1 I will buy.

Ministry's _Twitch_ I may buy. top 5 nominee: Everyday is Halloween

Need to bookmark, and sort bookmarks of songs, artists, ablums, and tracks.
A wish list, and also a way to compare, is the track on, eg
the _Modulations_ soundtrack the same as on my album ?

I's a way to highlight and select text before copying it out of
the main iTunes window.

Fury Index

Update 2003 May 14: complete index.

What will google do to this index ? (My gift to Kevin.)

Why ? Because mousovering to see where an url leads in uninstructive for a
javascript:void(0); link, and clicking on such a link often hijacks
an existing browser window. And because most crawlers don't follow
Javascript new window poping links.

Exercise: To compare two sets of comments, open two comment windows
on fury.com at once.

Why blog ?

Blogging provides a public post-it note about something. An observation,
a quotation, a picture, an idea.

Posting a link is a vote in support of the linked-to resource, whose rank
will be increased by google, blogdex, etc.

Many a blog entry serves also as a public vote to support a particular
noted improvement. For instance, if I write, Office atria should sport
three-way mirrors --watching them, watching you, watching them.,
random people googling for atria will encounter my idea.

Most of the posts here are on the topics of

1. economics, especially pricing mechanisms;
   
2. information architecture, user centereed design, and usability; or
   
3. urbanity and transportation and physical architecture.
   

Q.Is it unusual to mix economics and urbanism ?
A.No, see for example Emanuel Tobier of the Wagner Graduate School of
Public Service of New York University or Jane Jacobs (neither of whom has
a blog (heh)).

Blogging furthers the revolution of do-it-yourself media criticism. Another
advantage to the Internet is that stories with a local bent in news magazines like
Newsweek and Time can be fact-checked against the version offered by
bloggers and by local newspapers, which are usually available online, and which
also usually have a more nuanced approach to the story.

And like Matt Welch said, the New Journalism of the 1960s
was built on a foundation of exposing boring conventional newspapers
for sucking up to power, lulling readers to sleep, and missing the truth.

I am also testing the notion that I can write great works by writing only
fifteen minutes per day. I have a few ideas for books
on information architecture, urban design and transit,
and applied economics, and want to see if

* I have sufficient illustrated examples and anecdotes to
support such a longer work; and

* If my inclination to write will be improved and my direction
in writing will be better focussed by starting with a review
and reflecting on the accumulated base of blog entries.

Pulitzer Prizes for Information Graphics

There is no Pulitzer Prizes for Information Graphics, although the
competition recognizes various forms of writing, reporting,
editorial cartooning and photography.

My goal is to compile information from journalists nationwide
to assess how informational graphics are presently used, and how
they were used to help deliver the information in 10 years of
award-winning work.

[From Hili Banjo and Susan Mango Curtis, by way of Edward Tufte]

What's smart about this campaign is that it seeks to involve
leading, Pulitzer-calibre, journalists. A lesser undtertaking
would have just said,

Let there be a prize, donate here.

By involving Puliterian journalists, we avoid launching some marginal
unrecognized award.

Update 2003 April 27: The Webby awards are really marginal --
the gala event is cancelled.

Train, Bus: unsigned

Update 2003 March 29: Palo Alto Daily News

Caltrain spokeswoman Rita Haskin sent a
handwritten apology note to Bowman.
No signs have yet been posted at the station, however.

----
Published Sunday, 2003 March 23
Letters to the Editor

Caltrain mystery

I want to complain about the treatment Caltrain metes out to
passengers on weekends. (Editor's note: Train service on the
weekends has been suspended for two years so Caltrain can repair and
improve its tracks. Buses are being used on weekends instead).

There is no information whatsoever at the Palo Alto University
Avenue depot regarding the bus that runs in place of the train.
There is no agent to ask. All is locked down. People are going
around asking each other if they know where the bus leaves from.

Once they have discovered the location, they find out they should
have bought a ticket from the machines back at the depot. One sign
with the correct information near the ticket vending machines would
have helped many of us on Sunday, March 16, during a heavy rain
shower from getting drenched, running back and forth before we
finally succeeded in boarding our bus.

Trudy Bowman
Kipling Street
Palo Alto
[Palo Alto Daily News See also: caltrain.com/news_ctx_fact_sheet ]

More data for the APTA paper.

SJC maps transit last

Public agencies should show transit lines on their maps.

Don't just show the station, show the line.
Where it comes from, where it goes to.

From SJC/Norman Mineta Silicon Valley's airport

See also SVMG's transitless maps.

Caltrain Fares

New Caltrain Fares: Caltrain has proposed a fair adjustment. See also comments on fare proposal.

Caltrain's presentation of the new fares:

The zones and fares are changed. Does this table show which fares
go up and which go down ? No.

A better presentation would also show which fares go up
and which go down. For example, the below ficticious
matrix shows some fares going up and others going down.

It would also be better for Caltrain to link together their
various pages about the fares.

Also, the top table was presented by Caltrain as only a .PDF file.
It would help if Caltrain would learn to publish web materials as
simple as a one page tables in HTML, instead of only in .PDF format.

inane graphical sitemaps

Inane site maps:
from www.fta.dot.gov/index/library.html

Faceted Tire Search

It is very common that a customer already has a set of road
wheels, and wants to know what choice of tires work on these
wheels.

No tire model is available in all sizes.
Various sizes of tire will fit and function well for a particular wheel.

TireRack is the foremost online tire retailer.
However, customers cannot group and sort TireRack's tires
using just any of the above classifications.

For example, a customer may wonder,

I've got a 16 x6.5 inch wheel, what's the best performance
tire that fits my wheel ?

TireRack.com cannot answer this question. Here's an exchange
which sheds some light on this predicament:

Customer Says:
Please make it easy to search for a tire by brand!
I'm not a large customer of yours having only bought
six or eight sets of tires from tirerack in the last few
years. But my impression is that each evolution of
your web site makes it harder for one to search for
a specific tire by brand.

Tonight I'm looking for some Michelin Sport Cup's.
Can't even find a way to drill down from products to
sizes so I can make an appropriate choice. I want to
know exactly what sizes are available for the product
I want. I don't know the sizes that are available in
the tire I'm going to buy, but I am going to buy a
set and it would be really helpful if I didn't have to
start with a bogus entry about tire size.

Certainly those of us that make our tire choices based
on size and type of tire are limited group but I'll bet we
buy more tires than your average consumer. And I bet
we buy tires that are sold at a higher margin.

Another customer writes:

Actually the problem is searching by type. I have yet to
figure out a way to (for example) search for all max performance
tires. The old web site allowed you to do this, but now the
process seems to be to pick a size, then drill down through
the selection guide. If you want to know if other tires
are available in a slightly different size you need to
start over and do a trial and error search, or else search
all brands separately to see if they offer a tire in that
category.

Vendor replies:

Searching for wheels by size and bolt pattern is not
on our site.

Our wheel fitment database is pretty comprehensive,
at least for street applications on stock or mildly modified
vehicles. We've found that the vast majority of customers
wanting to search by size or bolt pattern are wanting
to work far outside the practical boundary (not that racers
would), and are trying to find a fitment that doesn't have
proper load capacity, clearance, hub-centricity, etc.
Inevitably, their next question is always, "do you sell
adapters...?"

We do have the ability to provide this sort of info
over the phone. I would recommend calling Dan (ext. 294)
or Bruce (ext. 289), and tell them what you're looking for
and trying to fit. They can help with this sort of info.

And if you're really working off the menu, we do have
the Kosei K1s in a handful of "blanks", that we can have
CNC machined to your specific bolt pattern and centerbore.
Also, for several of the popular lightweight wheel
lines we carry, we usually publish the list of diameters,
widths and weights in our Grassroots Motorsports ad.
This may give you a good starting point at least.

-John "Woody" Rogers
Product Information Specialist
The Tire Rack

[From the Evo-discussion list.]