Hi all

A few months ago, I rolled out the London Underground Route Finder,
which plots the routes between two stations, and asked for feedbacks.
The main points boiled down to the ability to add a route if the
calculated ones are rubbish, and also to indicate which exit/carriage
is best at interchanges. Well, these features are now available, so for
the experts out there, if you know a secret shortcut and would like to
share that with the rest of us, this is your chance.

The URL is http://public.ok2life.com/. As ever, I am not competing with
Mr TFL, as you will read from the mission statement on the front page.

Regards
David

P.S. I am grateful for the rain this morning, as the heat became
unbreable.

David Tran wrote:
Hi all

A few months ago, I rolled out the London Underground Route Finder,
which plots the routes between two stations, and asked for feedbacks.
The main points boiled down to the ability to add a route if the
calculated ones are rubbish, and also to indicate which exit/carriage
is best at interchanges. Well, these features are now available, so for
the experts out there, if you know a secret shortcut and would like to
share that with the rest of us, this is your chance.

The URL is http://public.ok2life.com/. As ever, I am not competing with
Mr TFL, as you will read from the mission statement on the front page.

Regards
David

P.S. I am grateful for the rain this morning, as the heat became
unbreable.

It's even worse today, not as hot, but even more humid; I'm finding it
difficult to breathe.

I only had a very quick look at it, I'm at work at the moment. I asked
for a route from Euston Square to Warren Street, and it sensibly told
me to walk. The old Railtrack site used to suggest a journey between
Settle and Giggleswick be made via Hellifield, and at certain times
would involve an overnight stop there!

However, asking for Northwick Park to Kenton offered a route of twenty
stops, via Baker Street. Sometimes it's not obvious to somebody who
doesn't know the area how close two stations on different lines are.

wrote:

David Tran wrote:
Hi all

A few months ago, I rolled out the London Underground Route Finder,
which plots the routes between two stations, and asked for feedbacks.
The main points boiled down to the ability to add a route if the
calculated ones are rubbish, and also to indicate which exit/carriage
is best at interchanges. Well, these features are now available, so for
the experts out there, if you know a secret shortcut and would like to
share that with the rest of us, this is your chance.

The URL is http://public.ok2life.com/. As ever, I am not competing with
Mr TFL, as you will read from the mission statement on the front page.

Regards
David

P.S. I am grateful for the rain this morning, as the heat became
unbreable.

It's even worse today, not as hot, but even more humid; I'm finding it
difficult to breathe.

I only had a very quick look at it, I'm at work at the moment. I asked
for a route from Euston Square to Warren Street, and it sensibly told
me to walk. The old Railtrack site used to suggest a journey between
Settle and Giggleswick be made via Hellifield, and at certain times
would involve an overnight stop there!

However, asking for Northwick Park to Kenton offered a route of twenty
stops, via Baker Street. Sometimes it's not obvious to somebody who
doesn't know the area how close two stations on different lines are.

The system has good knowledge of the tube network, so plotting towards
the centre, it can do pretty well. What it does not do well is
connecting the outer fringes, like, say, from Stanmore to Edgeware,
which can only be done by buses or trains. This is why I added the
route designer so these gaps can be gradually filled in by
knowledgeable visitors.

Hey, on the bright side, apparently this is the right kind of rain for
Thames Water, where it lasts all day, giving the ground time to absorb.
Another month like this and maybe we can wash our cars again.

David

On 5 Jul 2006 03:42:11 -0700, "David Tran"
wrote:

Hi all

A few months ago, I rolled out the London Underground Route Finder,
which plots the routes between two stations, and asked for feedbacks.
The main points boiled down to the ability to add a route if the
calculated ones are rubbish, and also to indicate which exit/carriage
is best at interchanges. Well, these features are now available, so for
the experts out there, if you know a secret shortcut and would like to
share that with the rest of us, this is your chance.

The URL is http://public.ok2life.com/. As ever, I am not competing with
Mr TFL, as you will read from the mission statement on the front page.

I gave this a try this morning. I plonked in my work trip and the most
obvious and convenient route via a level interchange was about the 5th
option because it involved more stops. I assume that fewer stops is
assumed to be the most logical route?

The search fields did not recognise Kings Cross or King's Cross or Kings
Cross St Pancras which I found peculiar. I gave up at that point.

I also tried Shoreditch to Angel as a route. I concede this is sneaky
but given that there are no trains to Shoreditch I assumed there might
be a reference to that - there wasn't. The route was then via Shadwell
and then the missing DLR link to Bank (I assume - it didn't say) and
then Northern Line. A second option was routed via Canada Water / London
Bridge. The obvious route via the H&C from Whitechapel to Moorgate and
then Northern Line was not provided - I'm sure this is the minimum
number of stops option as well but was not built in.

I'll admit I didn't really follow the first thread when you "launched"
this site on us - I still think it needs some work on its route logic as
well as tidying the graphics for the displayed routes. It's rather
cramped and messy IMO.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Hey, on the bright side, apparently this is the right kind of rain for
Thames Water, where it lasts all day, giving the ground time to absorb.
Another month like this and maybe we can wash our cars again.

Maybe we should petition the planners at Wimbledon to make it last a
month next year ;-)
--
The presence of this signature shows that this message has been scanned
for misplaced apostrophes by the common sense scanner. However, some
apostrophes may not be included where required due to boredom, gross
negligence, budget cuts, incompetence, stupidity or just plain laziness.
http://www.railwaysonline.co.uk

Paul Corfield wrote:
On 5 Jul 2006 03:42:11 -0700, "David Tran"
wrote:


Hi all

A few months ago, I rolled out the London Underground Route Finder,
which plots the routes between two stations, and asked for feedbacks.
The main points boiled down to the ability to add a route if the
calculated ones are rubbish, and also to indicate which exit/carriage
is best at interchanges. Well, these features are now available, so for
the experts out there, if you know a secret shortcut and would like to
share that with the rest of us, this is your chance.

The URL is http://public.ok2life.com/. As ever, I am not competing with
Mr TFL, as you will read from the mission statement on the front page.


I gave this a try this morning. I plonked in my work trip and the most
obvious and convenient route via a level interchange was about the 5th
option because it involved more stops. I assume that fewer stops is
assumed to be the most logical route?

The search fields did not recognise Kings Cross or King's Cross or Kings
Cross St Pancras which I found peculiar. I gave up at that point.

I also tried Shoreditch to Angel as a route. I concede this is sneaky
but given that there are no trains to Shoreditch I assumed there might
be a reference to that - there wasn't. The route was then via Shadwell
and then the missing DLR link to Bank (I assume - it didn't say) and
then Northern Line. A second option was routed via Canada Water / London
Bridge. The obvious route via the H&C from Whitechapel to Moorgate and
then Northern Line was not provided - I'm sure this is the minimum
number of stops option as well but was not built in.

I'll admit I didn't really follow the first thread when you "launched"
this site on us - I still think it needs some work on its route logic as
well as tidying the graphics for the displayed routes. It's rather
cramped and messy IMO.

Hi Paul

Thanks for the feedback. If you start typing "King'" the name should
auto complete to "King's Cross St. Pancras", which should also have
appeared on the dropdown for you to select with your mouse.

Did you try the Route Designer, it is exactly for the purpose you
described, where humans are smarter than computers. If you look at the
"Contributed Routes" screen, you will see a number of routes where
people have done exactly this.

Also, if you click on the smiley to vote for the route, it will
automatically float to the top so that the next visitor will know it is
the best route, even if it involves more stations.

David