Well, it was back to work for me yesterday morning. You know that service change that went into effect a couple of weeks ago? And the new schedules corresponding to that service change? Well, I've ridden on quite a few buses since then, and only once have I even seen a few schedules available. And those were for a different route than the bus I was on!
I have scored some schedules at two different libraries (Bear and Woodlawn). In both cases, however, the library racks were out of schedules for the route/routes that serve the immediate area of that library!
DART schedule distribution seems so hit-or-miss! I'm lucky because I have easy access to the internet and a printer, and can just pull up and print any schedule i need. For those without the equipment and/or skills, what are they supposed to do?
When I lived in Southern California, you could go to any drug store or book store and buy a little paperback book that contained maps and current schedules for ALL routes. You could tuck the book into your bag and go, knowing you had schedules for wherever the day would take you. They cost a few dollars and had a fold-out map pasted in the back, showing all routes.
It's gotten expensive to produce books, and perhaps the cost would now be prohibitive. But how about this. Bus schedules that are mobile-friendly. (Hint to DART - pdf files are NOT mobile friendly.) How about Google Map overlays that show bus routes... to scale, on REAL maps instead of the current not-to-scale crappy maps you can barely read, and then only if you already know the area and the referenced landmarks? I have taken classes on MAKING maps, and I can just barely figure out the current DART route maps. Google Map overlays would be a huge help.
I have scored some schedules at two different libraries (Bear and Woodlawn). In both cases, however, the library racks were out of schedules for the route/routes that serve the immediate area of that library!
DART schedule distribution seems so hit-or-miss! I'm lucky because I have easy access to the internet and a printer, and can just pull up and print any schedule i need. For those without the equipment and/or skills, what are they supposed to do?
When I lived in Southern California, you could go to any drug store or book store and buy a little paperback book that contained maps and current schedules for ALL routes. You could tuck the book into your bag and go, knowing you had schedules for wherever the day would take you. They cost a few dollars and had a fold-out map pasted in the back, showing all routes.
It's gotten expensive to produce books, and perhaps the cost would now be prohibitive. But how about this. Bus schedules that are mobile-friendly. (Hint to DART - pdf files are NOT mobile friendly.) How about Google Map overlays that show bus routes... to scale, on REAL maps instead of the current not-to-scale crappy maps you can barely read, and then only if you already know the area and the referenced landmarks? I have taken classes on MAKING maps, and I can just barely figure out the current DART route maps. Google Map overlays would be a huge help.
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