User information and the bus stop: designs and applications in the United States and Canada

Abstract

Bus stops are interwoven into the urban landscape, providing direct access to the transit system and offering upfront information to users. This contact creates an ever-present opportunity for transit agencies to market their services to the public and attract ridership. The purpose of this thesis is to help transit agencies exploit this opportunity through the development and deployment of user information. The thesis examines how agencies are leveraging bus stop infrastructure in the United States and Canada. Site visits were conducted at twenty-nine transit agencies across the continent with observations photographed and processed into matrices. The photographs provide examples of innovative ways in which agencies have employed elements, while the matrices reveal the current state of the practice. The thesis concludes with recommendations for the conceptualization and development of bus stop signage that integrate many of these innovative elements as well as ADA regulations to improve user information at transit agencies. The findings of this thesis may be of interest to transit agencies that are seeking to construct a new or improve upon an existing user information system as well as to those interested in or studying public transit, wayfinding, or environmental graphic design. While there exists a large degree of difference as to the level of information that is made available to users in different transit agencies, all agencies have room to improve.