Tickets II

So here it is. After complaining about the incredibly poor ticket design which UK train travellers (and staff) have to put up with, here is a re-imagining of it. Taking the original orange-and-white format as a starting point, there are a number of key features which should improve the ticket in use.

Importantly, the destination is the most prominent information, enabling people to see at a glance where the ticket is valid for. Underneath is the permitted route. In this case, the ticket is a return for two adults, one full-price child, and one concession child, and incorporates a seat reservation (coach and seat numbers). Using the inspiration of the timeless British Rail logo, the ticket is reversible depending on whether it is to be used for the outbound or return journey. The orange bands remain the location for the punchhole check by the guard.

The departure time and date are also shown, with an analogue clock to help make the time more memorable. In this way, all of the information on the current ticket design is preserved, reorganised into a user-friendly format, and anything distracting discarded or diminished.

95 years on

Years ago I had a book containing milestones from the history of photography. Included in it was Henri Lartigue's 1913 image of a racing car, speeding past the camera. The shutter action moved vertically from top to bottom, and as it did so transferred the light
onto the plate. With the pace of the car, the time which the shutter slit took to scan the lens became significant, such that circular
wheels were captured as ovals. So, I believe, the inspiration for Roadrunner's leg action was born.

Now idly snapping from the train to Sheffield, I find that by turning my iPhone to landscape format I can reproduce the same effect. We've clearly come a long way in 95 years.

Tickets

UK train tickets seem logical from the viewpoint of an engineer or the ticket machine. A consistent watermarked, orange-bordered strip is printed in black ink of three font sizes.

As a traveller however, you have to identify the correct ticket as you walk towards the inspector, or they walk towards you. This is impossible to do quickly and efficiently since they are nearly indistinguishable.

Applying a simple hatch to, say, every 'outward portion' or using a supersize font and generally better hierarchy of information would solve this very easily. Of course the engineer might protest that it will use more ink...

Perhaps I'll give it a go.

Lane

Lateral thinking in connection with city infrastructure will always be worth considering. Building roads, underpasses, bridges, and barriers is often expensive, awkward and time-consuming. On top of this, there is the aesthetic price we pay for the uninvited eye-level clutter which attaches itself to our highways, as the authorities try to protect us from ourselves. This innovation from a US company called Altitude inc. is a bike lane you take with you on the dark journey home. Cyclists can now carry their version of the white line/logo combo. (via Good)