One of the core challenges with transit communications is that new riders have such a hard time navigating the network. We professionals tend to forget that it is neither obvious nor intuitive to learn where a bus travels or how to read a timetable.
Train companies have traditionally done a terrible job at presenting information in an easy format. Sometimes, timetables are presented with both directions as part of the same design, so reading a timetable in one direction requires a bottom-to-top movement.
Amtrak, as an example, usually uses the traditional train timetable combining both directions , with relatively poor results. Check them out here.
Much better to print two timetables for each route, one in each direction, so the eye only travels left-to-right and top-to-bottom.
Metra does a good job printing out separate timetables for each direction (inbound and outbound, in their common-sense vernacular). Examples are available here.
Never skimp on rider instructions!
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