Instead of advertising wrap (or in addition to), put a large map of the bus's route.
I sat for 20 minutes waiting for a bus today, and had probably 30 other busses drive by that weren't the number I was waiting for. I'm sure some of the busses drive close enough to my destination to take, but I had little idea about which ones are even going in the right direction. Unless you really know the bus system, just having a number and final destination doesn't tell you enough.
So, put a big map on the bus. There's certainly enough space for it.-- Worldgineer, Nov 29 2006 No: 19 http://www.countryb...rg/RML/RML2452o.jpgRoute on side as mentioned by Ian. [skinflaps, Nov 29 2006] Ditto, linky.-- skinflaps, Nov 29 2006 Baked. Maps of routes in all buses and bus stops, here.-- squeak, Nov 29 2006 Slightly OT - I was thinkingabout something-"bus"-y, just last night.
Many of the bus stops in London have an electronic display telling you when the next buses are due to arrive, and where they're going.
I'd like to see a website which relays the information (for any bus stop) to a website - so I know when the next bus is due at my local stop / when I'm due to arrive where I'm going.
BTW - I know the Finnish trams have something similar - except the tram SMS's you when it's near your local stop-- Dub, Nov 29 2006 Whazzit say? Ding, ding!-- squeak, Nov 29 2006 It would be hard to change the map if they use the same vehicle to run a different route one day.-- phundug, Nov 29 2006 Here we have maps, electronic signs with next bus times, help points that you can use to ask real people in some office about the next bus/tram and also some kind of text service.-- Helixthecat, Nov 29 2006 I though the Transport for London website did this sort of stuff, but I may be wrong. The nationalrail.co.uk website does, it gives live train info. that I can browse on my phone.-- webfishrune, Nov 29 2006 As an addendum, a large amount of London bus tops also have a map of all services from that stop with a schematic route showing milestone stops, particularly when the route changes. This allows me to take the 11, 19 or 22 from the King's road to Sloane Square but not the 49.-- gnomethang, Nov 29 2006 No: 19 is a cool-looking bus.-- nomocrow, Nov 30 2006 //bus tops // how the hell are you meant to read it there? is it for police helicopters?-- po, Nov 30 2006 The 'Countdown' system (really) on London bus-stops is notorious for being accurate about 50% of the time, and fiction the other 50%. Unfortunately, it's imossible to know which 50% you are currently in ...
Many individual buses in London are used for more than one route, but the 23 used to have a simplified route map inside, in the days when the service was Routemasters. *Sigh* - I miss routemaster buses. You can't call yourself a Londoner til you've leapt on/off the platform of a bus travelling at more than 20mph.-- Katisha, Dec 01 2006 Why not put maps on the side of busses? Because there is more money in advertising.
In Australia we have maps in major bus stations, but minor stops are just signs on the side of the road, often without route numbers. Good idea, but I can't see it catching on...-- emjay, Dec 03 2006 An idea for an advertiser, then - put a "branded" map on the bus with their logo or name worked into it. For example, a brewery could show locations of pubs that serve their product, a chain of stores could indicate their locations. Because it's useful, people look at it for longer, and the brand gets noticed more.-- jutta, Dec 03 2006 Strange that the advertising thing doesn't seem to exist. All of the bus wrap ads I see are quite generic advertisements. I would imagine [jutta]'s modification could tempt bus commuters away from their regular route once or twice.-- Worldgineer, Dec 06 2006 random, halfbakery