SCHEMATIC TRANSIT INFORMATION SYSTEM
This project is pointing out the need and necessity of sustainable transport system and how the public can access it. The whole project is done on the perception that none of the big cities can afford for 18 year olds or older people to move freely on the road using individual vehicles. That is why the sustainable transport system has become more important.
“Fly with us” is the name of bus route map mainly designed for the students and staffs of NID Paldi, Ahmedabad campus. While most students at NID are new to Ahmedabad city, by using this map they can easily know about the bus routes, bus numbers (in Gujarathi and English), frequency, bus stands, important bus stops, important places, airport, railway stations, hospitals, educational institutes, malls and theatres. And especially for the NID students, in this map there is added a section of ‘material and services’. This section gives the information of various shops like paper, cloth and lifestyle accessories, tools and metal, engineering service and digital printing. Back side of the map showed the addresses of each shop with bus numbers. This would help the students to access the desired shops according to their educational needs.
After minor modifications the project was taken up by NID and the Bus route map was distributed to the NID community. Prof. Rupesh Vyas was guided me for this project. This map can be useful for the Paldi citizens also.
NEED, PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF DESIGN
Challenges facing urban transport in India
The rapid growth of urban areas has put a strong demand for upgradation and augmentation of urban transport systems. In the near future, urban transport will become a major concern in all large cities in India. Congestion, accidents, pollution and road decay will inevitably Increase.
PUBLIC BUS TRANSPORT IN AHMEDABAD
There are three public transport service runs in the city. The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS), Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) Ahmedabad.
[brts-1] Corridors of BRTS and AMTS, Ahmedabad
Corridors of BRTS and AMTS, Ahmedabad
PROPOSED MODEL OF INFORMATION SYSTEM
This model of information system is linked with each other. It helps to provide the real time information to public for accessing the right buses, routes and its timing.User can get the information by using any of these facilities. All buses are connected with GPS tracking and it linked with SMS, internet, call center and bus stops. So that the user can get the real time information.
MAP DESIGN PROCESS
The data collected was used to make the map. During the process it was found that it was not sufficient data since it didn’t give a clear picture about the bus route. For that it was required to travel in the various buses to find the routes. The various stages of the map making process are shown throughout this chapter.
The bus routes that pass through Paldi and NID were chosen. Each route was shown separately avoiding negative space created between the bus routes on same routes, since it might create confusion to the user. Hence , the bus routes were arranged by changing the orientation. Each route was given a unique colour so the user can identify the routes easily.
After arranging the bus routes, the sharp corners were smoothened as round corners are more effective for maps and diagrams, because they allow the eyes to easily navigate through these lines and it better suits to the natural movement of the head and eyes respectively.
First prototype of the bus route map with basic information. This was given to the users for feedback. With this feedback and expert suggestions, later the final map was made.
USER OBSERVATION
The map is designed in such a way that it opens in three steps and the zigzag folding reduces the chance of tearing. Some specific information is added on the front and backside of the map and is visible once it is folded. So the user can easily access information without opening the whole map. However, the user needs to be able to fold back the map properly once he or she has opened it. I observed how students open and close the map. I had two maps that were printed on two materials. One is printed on thin paper and the other one is printed on stronger, synthetic paper. I gave the thin paper map to the first two students. They opened the map easily but had some problems in folding it back properly. So in the process, the map was torn and I couldn’t give it to others.Then I gave the synthetic paper map to other students. Here I found one interesting thing — that most of them folded back the map properly. The thin paper map could be folded in any way but the people who used the stronger, synthetic paper map folded it back properly, or rather in the way I wanted them to fold it. The synthetic paper map had a tendency to fold back in the same direction because of its thickness and stiffness. From my observation, the material itself guides the user to fold it back in the desired manner.
LOGO DESIGN
After trying some explorations it was decided to give an unusual treatment for the title of the map different and interesting instead of saying directly “AMTS bus route map”. It was also required that the title and visual elements in the map should represent the place and purpose of the map.
Chabutra’s pictorial mark was used as a map identity. Chabutras can be seen every where in Ahmedabad. In English it can vaguely be defined as “Pigeon-Tower” or “Pigeon-hole-tower”. Actually, Chabutaro is a word of Gujarati language. The word ‘fly with us’ was used as a title for the map. It suits the pictorial mark. Pigeons tells the users “fly with us”. Using the map users can easily travel through the city.
COLOUR
Various colours used in this map. Some colours have a relationship to the feature on the ground. Blue colour is used to show river and lake. Green for garden and gray for roads.
Unique colour is used for each bus route. To avoid confusion the selection of bus route colour is very important. Because there are twenty one bus routes showed in this map with twenty one unique colours. However the colours need to be carefully selected so they can be clearly distinguished from each other.
TYPOGRAPHY
FF Transit is a highly legible font that works well for readers who may need quick orientation while en route. It was originally designed by MetaDesign in Berlin for the official use of the Berlin Public Transportation Services (BVG) and Düsseldorf Airport, but will now be available commercially all over the world. Designed to blend aesthetic quality with legibility.
GRID, FOLDING & SIZE
A map having vertical and horizontal reference lines (grid) to facilitate locating a specific point. Grid and folds are used in the same way in this map. The map foldings would creates vertical and horizontal marks on the paper. I took this as an advantage. The map is designed in such a way that this folding marks creates the grid of the map. So it helps to avoing more lines in the map. This would help reduce the confusion.
The map is designed in A2 size. When it is folded it become 5.8”X4.1”. The folded map would fit in to the pocket. This would increase the convenience of the user.
