class411
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Post by class411 on May 27, 2023 12:22:17 GMT
Does anyone have a clue as to why the TFL journey planner adds some arbitrary amount to the start and end of journeys to 'transfer' from/to where you asked to start and end?
I asked it to plan a journey (to get a time estimate), from a station to Heathrow 2&3, and the first 'leg' was a 3 min transfer to the station I asked to start at (from where was not specified), and the final one was a four minute walk from (get this) Heathrow terminal 2&3 to Heathrow terminal 2&3 underground station. (Is it planning on stopping in the tunnel and making us walk the last four minutes?)
I've noticed this before.
It's not a problem, but it is weird.
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Post by trt on May 27, 2023 12:43:59 GMT
I think it's just safeguarding the fact that it takes time to transition from the station area (ticket hall) to the platform, which is where the scheduled departure and arrival times are. No good telling it, for example, you're at Kilburn High Road and the last train leaves in 90 seconds - if you're in sight of the departure board then you don't need to be asking, and if you're not, you'd have to be Usain Bolt to catch it! Added at both ends presumably because you can plan the journey from either end - as a depart at or arrive at.
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class411
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Post by class411 on May 27, 2023 12:48:44 GMT
Thanks. That makes sense.
I suppose even those of us who use the system regularly might get caught out at a station we haven't used before.
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Post by trt on May 27, 2023 12:49:34 GMT
And of course you have to allow time for buying a ticket!
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Post by jimbo on May 27, 2023 19:51:52 GMT
There is also the wait for the next train, which may be a maximum of the service interval, or an average of half the service interval. And at the destination there is the passage out to the street, or at Heathrow the lengthy passageways to the terminal desired.
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Chris M
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Post by Chris M on May 27, 2023 20:52:06 GMT
It's almost certainly the time taken from the street to the platform. I just tried with a journey from Roding Valley (a station where the street and platforms are very close) to Bank (a station where they are a long way apart). Departing Roding Valley it allowed 2 minutes, arriving at Bank it allowed 5 minutes. On the return journey it allowed 5 minutes at Bank and 2 at Roding Valley.
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Post by 35b on May 28, 2023 6:37:03 GMT
It's almost certainly the time taken from the street to the platform. I just tried with a journey from Roding Valley (a station where the street and platforms are very close) to Bank (a station where they are a long way apart). Departing Roding Valley it allowed 2 minutes, arriving at Bank it allowed 5 minutes. On the return journey it allowed 5 minutes at Bank and 2 at Roding Valley. And, where I’ve used the planner, it is completely confusing because I assume my journey starts at the platform. |
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class411
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Post by class411 on May 28, 2023 8:43:18 GMT
I suppose they introduced this feature because there are some very long treks as some stations. At Victoria, from the station entrance to the Victoria line platforms it's almost a half marathon [/HYPERBOLE]
But as I said in the OP, there are oddities.
At Shepherd's Bush Market, there's no way that for 99.9% of passengers it could take 3 minutes to get from the entrance to the platform. It may be that there is a default amount added for ticket buying/possible congestion.
And the Heathrow one just looks silly, saying that once you've stopped at the station it takes four minutes to get to the station.
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Post by trt on May 30, 2023 9:44:05 GMT
At Shepherd's Bush Market, there's no way that for 99.9% of passengers it could take 3 minutes to get from the entrance to the platform. Lifts. The transit time has to be for the reasonably slowest individual. There's a lot of hyperbole about the "Spanish practice" (as certain wings of the press call them) of walking time allowance for rest breaks being set for the slowest individual, but imagine the furore if journey planning apps measured walking time as a sprint instead of having to wait for a full cycle of the two lifts that you would need to get up to the footbridge, over the tracks and down to the other platform. I think even three minutes is cutting it fine, TBH. And on the subject of lifts and having to wait for a full cycle... why don't those places that have lifts some distance away down a corridor or across a bridge, have some form of additional call button located a suitable distance away from the lift that the car can be summoned from the furthest end of the shaft to where it will be needed so it arrives just in time? As it is a full cycle of some lifts can take 45 seconds, which could have been reduced by having a secondary (advanced) call button located somewhere on the approach to the lift, say 15 seconds walk back. |
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Post by theblackferret on May 30, 2023 11:20:16 GMT
I suspect mention of the slowest person's speed would apply to escalator access & progress,too.
Even in my more athletic days(yes,it's true!),walking down an escalator to speed up progress was very rarely done, in case some other passenger moved their case/backpack & sent you flying.
It was easier to spot that walking up escalators.
I would expect TFL have trialed this literally on foot before most of the figures were added. Maybe some need updating?
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Chris M
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Post by Chris M on May 30, 2023 13:10:33 GMT
The default on the journey planner is for "Average" walking speed, with options for "slow" or "fast" so I would presume the same is true for entry and exit. However, as soon as I change the default walking speed the journey planner is unable to find any routes for even a simple journey, this also happens when I change it back to average speed, so is very clearly a bug.
From experience, using lifts can very significantly extend travel times. For example at Canary Wharf Jubilee line, using the escalators it takes about 2-3 minutes from street to platform, but using lifts can take 5-10 if you have to wait for someone else going the same direction as you.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 30, 2023 19:49:32 GMT
At Shepherd's Bush Market, there's no way that for 99.9% of passengers it could take 3 minutes to get from the entrance to the platform. Lifts. The transit time has to be for the reasonably slowest individual. There aren't any lifts (or a footbridge) at Shepherd's Bush Market. Just a set of stairs from each platform down to the ticket hall. |
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Post by trt on May 30, 2023 19:51:08 GMT
Maybe I'm confusing it with Shepherds Bush Overground.
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