Thursday, August 4, 2016

Finding your way around a city

Finding a way around a city should be easy. You just need to travel light, wear walking shoes, carry a map or satnav and plan your route. It is useful to know an alternative route in case you miss your last bus home, your taxi or car driver takes a diversion, or the trains stop running because of an unanticipated emergency.

In Singapore the stations have signs saying what to do in an emergency. The sign suggests alternative routes bus routes. Some maps put show how near it is to walk between city centre stations on different lines, or even the same line.

Today I was at a station and all trains were stopped because of a signal failure.

I see a bus stop the other side of the road. But where is the bus going?

After a breakdown at Watford, we stranded passengers were told to walk from Watford to Bushey, only a ten minute walk. That would have been good if I had not just bought a lot of heavy shopping.







































The Arriva bus is travelling fromWatford to Brent Cross. Bus 142.

If you are organising an event it helps to place signs at the exit showing walking routes to the nearest bus or station. When checking into a new hotel, you can ask the reception tor parroter's desk enrolees to mark a map with the location of your hotel and a route to a museum. I once did that in London. I had popped int to find out the price of coffee, saw a map and a magazine with maps of central London, and asked the concierge desk for directions to the British Museum.


This week I took a train to north west London and all trains on one of the lines were stopped because of a signal failure on the line. When I came out of the station, I had to phone a friend or family members and give them notice of the buildings where I was standing near to where they could stop their car.

Whilst waiting I photographed the buses going in all directions.

A friend of mine uses City Mapper to find her way home if she misses the last train. She can then direct a taxi, or watch that she is not being taken on a route which is indirect or likely to have traffic holdups.

Some restaurants and museums and attractions and community centres and hotels have signs up showing the way to the nearest railway station or bus stop.

Even if somebody is collecting you, if you are able to walk, it may be easier to meet them at an intermediate point.

The 306 bus goes to Watford Town Centre via Elstree and Little Bushey.
www.sullivanbuses.com 

You might see the bus company on the front of back of the bus.
On most stations you can pick up a map, often giving routes, times of last and first transport, stops along the line, and nearby places of interest, plus street names if you want to tell somebody whom you are meeting where you will be standing.

Transport for London
City mapper
street view
google maps


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

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