Check out this interesting commentary on naming bus routes with numbers versus meaningful words: http://commuter.typepad.com/commuterpageblog/2007/11/16-2-53a.html

The author blogs about something I’ve read about before.  Which is that we often remember things based on past connects we have formed in our minds.  So if I meet someone and her name is Tina, I will probably remember that because my mom’s name is Tina.  But if I meet someone with a name I have no associations with, that person’s name might as well be 203.

Which is the point of the post.  Many bus routes, even in Ann Arbor, are numbered.  But most of us have no associations with a particular number in our minds (expect maybe 666 and others I won’t get in to).  So it becomes harder to remember which route goes where when they are numbered randomly.

Now, I am not criticizing the AATA system in particular, because this happens in most places.  Which is what makes Boulder Colorado once again the place to beat.  As the author of the post mentions, Boulder names its buses things like the Hop and Skip.  Those sorts of words already have connections in our minds and so might be easier to remember.

Coincidentally, I think the AATA  attempts to do this by putting the major street or destination on the bus along with the number.  So I can remember that 5 Packard goes mostly along Packard.

Anyway, it seems like an interesting topic to me . . .

Interesting discussion on MetroRider LA about cars vs. bikes and other modes and which is faster.  Check it out here:  The Private Auto Saves Time: False