trynmaps
Indicate route type in web UI
The route object in JS now contains an integer "type" property, with the same value as GTFS route_type field in routes.txt:
0 - Tram, Streetcar, Light rail. Any light rail or street level system within a metropolitan area.
1 - Subway, Metro. Any underground rail system within a metropolitan area.
2 - Rail. Used for intercity or long-distance travel.
3 - Bus. Used for short- and long-distance bus routes.
4 - Ferry. Used for short- and long-distance boat service.
5 - Cable car. Used for street-level cable cars where the cable runs beneath the car.
6 - Gondola, Suspended cable car. Typically used for aerial cable cars where the car is suspended from the cable.
7 - Funicular. Any rail system designed for steep inclines.
It would be useful to indicate the route type in the web UI somewhere (icons?)
There are actually a lot of emojis we could use.
Tram: 🚊🚋🚈 Subway: 🚇 Rail: 🚅🚄🚂 Bus: 🚌🚍 Ferry: ⛴️🚢 Cable car: 🚎🚈 Gondola: 🚠🚡 Funicular: 🚞
Perhaps we could put these emojis right before or after the route name on the dashboard... Or in their own column. And on the routes page we could put the emoji in the breadcrumbs, or even replace the standard bus icon on the map with these emojis.
Some customization per city may be needed. SF distinguishes motor coaches (buses without a connection to an overhead rail) and other coaches (forget the name but they are connected to an overhead rail). And there's historic street cars.
Some customization per city may be needed. SF distinguishes motor coaches (buses without a connection to an overhead rail) and other coaches (forget the name but they are connected to an overhead rail). And there's historic street cars.
Trolley coach. During the Potrero yard tour, they said something about how San Francisco was very unusual for having such extensive overhead wires in the US, as most cities had removed their overhead wires along with their streetcar rails during the conversion to buses. I think it’s because of the steepness of SF hills. Custom icons sounds like a fun addition, as does the use of emojis.
The GTFS files for SF Muni use type 3 for both motor coaches and trolley coaches. SF Muni uses the types 0, 3, and 5 (Muni Metro lines don't count as subway).
In Portland we have an aerial tram with type 6 although we're not collecting data for it yet.
The GTFS Type for E&F are the same as J, K, L, M, N, & T: 1. Do we care about the distinction between those?
This issue is a bit stalled out. I think we've decided that an emoji and Material UI logos on the dashboard route table next to the route name are both too heavyweight. Other options include:
- in the breadcrumb as shown in #468 (for route summary and trip to trip screens)
- in the route summary
- on the map (SFMTA's system map uses one color for all light rail lines, and buses are two colors, for rapid/express and not)
- on the dashboard route table, but using customized/tailored icons that are easy to read and distinguish from each other
- on the dashboard route table (e.g., an emoji in the table that only appears on hover for that row/route)
- on the route table, using type for sorting and filtering
See #468 for sample screenshots of emoji and material UI icons in the route table.