orangejon
Paris bus information
Take note, Centro and all the other braindead British bus companies! (hover over the large version to see annotations)
For some reason, the Birmingham bus company seems completely incapable of providing almost any of this information, thus rendering the whole bus network bloody useless.
Another important part not shown here: a little display (and voice) on the bus that tells you the name of the stop before you reach it - which is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL otherwise how the hell are you supposed to know when to get off?! At least once you've sailed past your stop and landed up the other end of the city, you're unlikely to make the mistake of taking a bus ever again.
Nice optional extras include:
* a driver that speaks (at least) the native language of the country you're in, sells tickets and gives change. Really great ones even know where they're going and can answer questions like "Do you go to/near [well-known place]?"
* a unified flat-rate ticketing system across different modes of transport, with paper tickets for visitors and affordable season tickets for locals
If I thought there was any chance of it making a difference, I'd make a video comparing how a functional bus network (e.g. London) works and then comparing it with the completely idiocy of the Birmingham buses. Maybe I'll make it anyway, just to let off some steam.
Paris bus information
Take note, Centro and all the other braindead British bus companies! (hover over the large version to see annotations)
For some reason, the Birmingham bus company seems completely incapable of providing almost any of this information, thus rendering the whole bus network bloody useless.
Another important part not shown here: a little display (and voice) on the bus that tells you the name of the stop before you reach it - which is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL otherwise how the hell are you supposed to know when to get off?! At least once you've sailed past your stop and landed up the other end of the city, you're unlikely to make the mistake of taking a bus ever again.
Nice optional extras include:
* a driver that speaks (at least) the native language of the country you're in, sells tickets and gives change. Really great ones even know where they're going and can answer questions like "Do you go to/near [well-known place]?"
* a unified flat-rate ticketing system across different modes of transport, with paper tickets for visitors and affordable season tickets for locals
If I thought there was any chance of it making a difference, I'd make a video comparing how a functional bus network (e.g. London) works and then comparing it with the completely idiocy of the Birmingham buses. Maybe I'll make it anyway, just to let off some steam.