The importance of information provided at the intermodal transfer stations
Usually when I am travelling by public transportation in Taipei I am required to transfer between different lines and transit modes during my journey. Since I am already familiar with most of connections and transfer stations within the city, I usually travel without thinking about that I might get lost. But what about those travelers who are new in town or who just simply don't take public transportation that often? For example how easy it is for them to find the exact location of a bus stop when transferring between metro (MRT) and bus? In this post I am going to test how user-friendly the information which is provided at the transfer stations in Taipei City.
As more and more cities, including Taipei, started to promote shared and public transportation in recent years, it became crucial to design transit networks which can provide a fast and convenient door-to-door service. However, lines that connect everything with everything might not be the most efficient way. They are more likely to result a very complicated network (especially in bigger cities) where different lines run parallel to each other usually without integrated headway and timetable, and each lines (mostly buses) are designed to take many detours along their route in order to serve as wide area as possible.
From the efficient network management point of view it is better to design higher capacity trunk lines along the main corridors with well-connected feeder lines for the local areas. It can help for the operators to manage the network easier thanks to the reduced number of routes as well as the shorter and more direct lines. However, as a result of more transfers, this approach can be only beneficial for the passengers if transfer is easy, convenient and fast. And not just between the same transport modes, such as metro to metro or bus to bus, but between the different transit modes as well (for example metro to bus, or bus to shared bike), because that is the only way to provide an efficient city-wide transit service. There are several criteria that a transfer station need to fulfill in order to ensure a smooth and easy transfer between the different routes, such as short walking distances, easily accessible transfer area, integrated timetables to reduce waiting time as well as safe and secure environment.
And of course information and guidance for transferring passengers, because nobody wants to miss their next train or bus just because it took 3 minutes longer to figure out which exit they should take to get to the other stop. Information should guide passengers from one platform to the other (despite of the fact that the other route is operated by another company), it should be visible, easily recognizable, accessible and coherent, just like the information is provided for drivers along the roads and highways. It is especially crucial for those passengers who rarely take public transportation, or not familiar with the given area, because they are the ones who are more likely to get lost and waste time on transfer. In their case such a negative experience are more likely to keep them away from using transit for the next time, which is definitely not good if the aim is to convince more people to take public transportation on a daily basis.
Some might argue, that in the era of smartphones and Google Maps, there is no need for detailed information about transfer at the station, since everything is available on the mobile devices. However, my argument is that while Google and the internet is helpful about timetables or bus stop location on the street, it still doesn't show the route from the train/metro platform all the way to the bus/tram stop through the underground area including the exit and the way from the exit to the station. Or even if it does sooner or later, there is nothing more inconvenient than searching for your cellphone and use Google when your hands are full with bags or other things like coffee or an umbrella. It is probably more convenient to just follow the signs without constantly searching for the right direction on your phone.
So what about Taipei? How information is provided at the intermodal transfer stations in Taipei's urban centers?
Well, the answer really matters on which transfer are we talking about. In case of metro-to-metro transfer (within the Taipei Metro system) the transfer information is easy to see, visible, accessible and it guides the passengers from one platform to the other, as well as to other service areas, such as the ticket booths or toilets. But in case of the metro-to-bus transfer, especially when the transfer is made from the metro to the buses, the quality of the provided information is less satisfying.
For example, the information about bus connections at the metro stations are only shown at the bottom of some local area maps (they don't separate transfer information from local area information) , which are not always easy to find. The information shows the route number and the exit number, but in some cases the map doesn't show the exact location of the bus stops above. Furthermore, it is easy to loose a lot of time while searching for the map and transfer information first, then figure out the way to the bus stop including the location of the exit, and finally walk to the exit. In case of big and complicated stations, by the time the passenger arrives to the street level he/she might forget the way to the bus stop, but there are no more maps provided outside of the metro station. It could be beneficial to highlight the list of bus routes at the underground level next to each of the exits, so transferring passengers might require less time to find the exit they need to take.
The other problem is, that each transit modes is operated by different private companies, and each operator will provide information with its own design, signs only within the area that the company is responsible for. Therefore within one intermodal station the transfer information is not coherent and does not provide efficient guidance from one stop/platform to another. Ximen station is a good example for this phenomenon. At the metro station they use letters to mark each bus stops on the surface. However, the bus companies use the letters in different order in the bus stops. Therefore, when someone is looking for bus stop 'A' based on the information provided at the metro station, on the surface that stop is marked with letter 'C'.
This could result serious confusion for passengers who are unfamiliar with the station and with the public transport network. As it was mentioned above, the incoherent or misleading information results time loss, inconvenience and insecure feeling to the traveler, which significantly decreases the competitiveness of public transportation. And as multimodality becomes more important in the future, the public transport companies and government agencies should pay more attention to provide comprehensive, reliable and coherent information to ensure a successful multimodal transit network in urban areas.