Published by the Urban Launchpad in January 2013

1. How to (Quickly) Make a Bus Map

2. Best possible
outcome $5K
Assuming you can
borrow phones and
computers
2 weeks
From data collection to first
print / prototype

3. Through our Kickstarter, we’ve heard that there are other
cities around the world that are interested in a public bus map
for their (often rapidly growing) city.
While there is no secret recipe, we hope this short slide show
can give you a window into what it might take.
Step 1 Recruit your flock
Step 2 Build on the shoulders of giants
Step 3 Determine the appropriate info-product(s)
Step 4 Select the appropriate data collection tools
Step 5 Collect and make sense of data
Step 6 Design, publish, iterate
(if necessary) Mail us

4. 1 Recruit Your Flock
Data collection is not easy – especially on moving buses. Our top qualities for a good
flock is one that 1) share your values, 2) rides the vehicle that you are looking to map,
The First Bus Map of Dhaka
3) can mobilize quickly, and 4) gives brutally honest feedback. Jackets help too.

5. 2 Build on the shoulders of giants
While it’s likely that there is little up-to-date information on what you are mapping,
it’s important to do a thorough job of looking for what has been done before and
contacting those who have done it. It may turn out that those are the people who
can help sustain your project in the future.

6. ২৭
3 Determine the Appropriate Info-Product(s)
In Dhaka, a physical bus sign may be the best way to reach bus riders. In Nairobi,
SMS. Your final info-products should guide your data collection process and not the
other way around.

7. 4 Select the Appropriate Data Collection Tools
While sometimes the best tools will be pen and paper, mobile devices like
smartphones and tablets make data collection easier to monitor and manage esp
when you have a large flock. They also can be programmed to simultaneously
collect data that is automatically sensored and human sensored like crowding.

9. 5 Collect and make sense of data
Depending on the complexity of the bus network and the enthusiasm and size of
your flock, collecting the appropriate data could be completed in 1-2 weeks. That’s
how long it took us to collect data on 70+ bus routes in Dhaka with a dedicated flock
of 6-8.
What was just as hard was to organize these routes so that they could be presented
in a clear way to riders. For us, that meant analyzing and reanalyzing the map,
creating new route labels and clustering buses based on their routes and not on their
color.

10. 6 Design, Publish and Iterate

12. Mail Us.
urbanlaunchpad@gmail.com
We’d love to help where we can if it’s looking over your data from afar or visiting where you are
(subject to our schedules). Our only requirement is that all the data you collect and the tools
you create are made available in the public domain for anyone, in any city to use.