While buses and trams are perceived as being safer than trains at night, a major downfall is the risk of missing your stop, especially if travelling in unfamiliar territory through dark streets. Which is too much of the time at the moment, just a week out from the winter solstice!
How can this aspect of network illegibility be minimised? It would be nice if the internals of windows were less reflective. Sometimes bright internal lighting (though good for reading) swamps the dim lighting outside. Better street signage at intersections would help. Far side bus stops (also desirable for bus priority reasons) might also assist as they give the passenger more time to recognise the cross-street.
But the biggest culprit would have to be advertising that covers bus windows. The photos below, both taken around dusk, illustrate the point. The first view out is from a clear window. The second is from a covered one. The visibility differences are stark.
Along with school and charter work, advertising provides income for the bus operator. However unlike the other means of earning revenue, they significantly reduce passenger amenity. Like billboards at some stations (that interfere with passenger movement, visibility and thus public safety) it is desirable that other means of revenue are found.
4 comments:
Alternatively they could make sure that half of every window (and not "half the windows!") are clear. Preferably the bottom half, as you're more likely to be sitting down when it's dark.
The all over advertising indicates that the private transport companies, the government and the overseeing department cares little about their passengers. It is a pity that vandals don't do something useful and rip it off.
The best advertisement for/on a bus or tram is that people on the street can see that there are people like themselves inside it.
I travelled on the Sydney Monorail recently, and found it suffered from the same problem.
I wonder if the operator considered the fact that most of it's passengers are tourists who purchase a ticket in large part for the view...
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