Visualizing Bus Transit (Warts and All)

A new interactive website by a bus advocacy group in New York City clarifies the ways MTA bus service needs improvement.

1 minute read

October 10, 2016, 5:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


New York Bus

Donald Bowers Photography / Shutterstock

According to an article by Brad Aaron, "the transit advocates with the Bus Turnaround campaign launched a web site that lets you look up any route in the system and see how it performs."

The site offers a clever data visualization that might be depressing to those who care about bus transit. Aaron notes that the site relies on MTA Bus Time information, and offers "a testament to the power of open data." But compare the Bus Turnaround website with the open data platform reporting bus system performance for Metro Los Angeles, and you'll see the power of visualizations and user experience design.

Vincent Barone included the news of the new Bus Turnaround website in an article that examines the efforts of advocates to improve bus service around the city of New York.

Thursday, October 6, 2016 in StreetsBlog NYC

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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