{"id":1739,"date":"2010-08-15T17:51:32","date_gmt":"2010-08-15T22:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2011-02-20T16:22:11","modified_gmt":"2011-02-20T21:22:11","slug":"frequency-mapping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/2010\/08\/15\/frequency-mapping\/","title":{"rendered":"Frequency Mapping"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Jarrett Walker had a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.humantransit.org\/2010\/08\/basics-the-case-for-frequency-mapping.html\" target=\"_blank\">great post<\/a> illuminating the basic reasons for &#8216;frequency mapping,&#8217; where a transit agency maps out transit routes that meet some threshold for frequent service (such as buses every 10 minutes, or 15 minutes, etc).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There are many degrees of frequency and span, but in general, most  transit agencies&#8217; service can be sorted into three categories of  usefulness based on these variables:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Frequent Network<\/strong> runs often enough that you  don&#8217;t have to plan your trip around a timetable.\u00a0 That typically means  every 15 minutes or better all day, but it needs to be more frequent  than that where aiming to serve relatively short trips &#8212; as in the case  of downtown shuttles for example.\u00a0 <em>If you aren&#8217;t willing to plan your life around a bus schedule, you are interested only in the Frequent Network.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Infrequent All-day services<\/strong> are the rest of the service that runs all day.\u00a0 This network often relies on timed connections.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Peak-only service<\/strong> exists only during the peak  period.\u00a0 It mostly takes the form of long commuter-express routes that  add lots of complexity to a system map but represent very specialized  services for limited markets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These three categories are useful in such completely different ways  that I would argue they are at least as fundamental as the three basic  categories of urban road &#8212; freeway, arterial, and local &#8212; that  virtually all street maps clearly distinguish.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We have some great examples of this in DC.\u00a0 The entirety of the Circulator network is, in essence, a Frequent Network.\u00a0 The Circulator aims for 10 minute headways, the routes are fairly simple and easy to understand, and thus people can look at the map and understand where the bus is and where it&#8217;s going.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wmata.com\/pdfs\/bus\/DC.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">WMATA&#8217;s bus map for DC<\/a>, however, doesn&#8217;t make this distinction.\u00a0 While there is a extra color designation for Metro Extra service (meeting the Frequent Network threshold), the other color distinctions merely show which jurisdiction the bus route operates in.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-crop.png\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1740\" title=\"DC Bus Map WMATA crop\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-crop.png?resize=620%2C280\" alt=\"DC Bus Map WMATA crop\" width=\"620\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-crop.png?w=1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-crop.png?resize=300%2C135&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-crop.png?resize=1024%2C464&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-crop.png?w=1250 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The distinction between which services operate only in DC (in red) and those which cross into Maryland (green) isn&#8217;t really important for a rider.\u00a0 Furthermore, the overwhelming use of red for the DC routes makes it hard to follow those routes across the map, seeing where they turn and what streets they travel down.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-legend.png\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1741\" title=\"DC Bus Map WMATA legend\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-legend.png?resize=620%2C418\" alt=\"DC Bus Map WMATA legend\" width=\"620\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-legend.png?w=828&amp;ssl=1 828w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DC-Bus-Map-WMATA-legend.png?resize=300%2C202&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Blue services with dashed lines, however, is indicative of MetroExtra (for some reason, a separate brand from Metro Express), and at least makes a effort at differentiation based on frequency &#8211; but that tends to get lost in the visual complexity of the overall map.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a common phenomenon of &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.publictransit.us\/ptlibrary\/TRB1221.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">rail bias<\/a>,&#8217; (hat tip to <a href=\"http:\/\/theoverheadwire.blogspot.com\/2007\/12\/high-ridership-rail-bias.html\" target=\"_blank\">The Overhead Wire<\/a>) where riders will opt for riding a train rather than a bus.\u00a0 However, rail systems tend to have several key attributes that make them more attractive &#8211; the investment in the infrastructure both enables and requires a high frequency of service, and the route structure is almost always simple enough to convey in an easily-understood diagram or map.<\/p>\n<p>The lesson from Jarrett&#8217;s post is that simple mapping based on frequency can help address some of the perceived shortcomings of buses.\u00a0 Even without addressing route structure, this is a relatively simple improvement in communication that helps riders a great deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Jarrett Walker had a great post illuminating the basic reasons for &#8216;frequency mapping,&#8217; where a transit agency maps out transit routes that meet some threshold for frequent service (such as buses every 10 minutes, or 15 minutes, etc). There are many degrees of frequency and span, but in general, most transit agencies&#8217; service [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[238,448,248,110,249,474,150],"class_list":["post-1739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bus","tag-dc","tag-frequency","tag-maps","tag-rail-bias","tag-transit","tag-transit-maps"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pHcGQ-s3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1873,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions\/1873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}