As everyone who cares knows by now, there's discussion in the big Toronto blogs about how to redesign the TTC website. All of these discussions seem to have fallen into pro-PDF and anti-PDF factions.
I fall into the anti-PDF faction, and I've come up with a demonstration to show why:
Here's the TTC system map in PDF form. This is the only electronic format in which the full system map is available, and the full system map is the only way to find out which routes you need to take.
Find someone who doesn't live in Toronto and is not familiar with the city. They can be as tech-savvy as you want. Give them two points in Toronto, and have them figure out what subway stations and bus routes they need to get from point A to point B. Pick two points that require at least one transfer. See how quickly they get pissed off figuring this out with the PDF map, especially if their computer isn't brand new or doesn't have gamer-calibre RAM.
If you're a non-Torontonian and you want to take up this challenge, here are two sample routes for you to try to figure out:
1. How do you get from Union Station to Bayview & Lawrence?
2. How do you get from Yonge & Eglinton to Roncesvalles Ave?
Torontonians will know that these are simple trips, but are they so simple to figure out with the PDF map if you don't already know where you're going?
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