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When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

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Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#21

Post by refactor_master »

Schiendelman wrote: post #8
sharms wrote: post #2

I would love to see more of this mindset - bring something new and unique in to the world, instead of mass produced, least price per unit mentality, like how car colors are trending towards black and white.

Not for transit please. This kind of thing is illegible (not to mention inaccessible) for visitors. Someone comes to your city and they want to ride a train instead of driving their rental car into your downtown. Your transit requires a card. They're not comfortable with your language, they have to find a machine, and the first one doesn't work right. They finally get a machine that works, after standing in line behi…

This reads like a nervous breakdown at the thought of having to buy a ticket from A to B. It’s really not that complicated in most countries with functional public transport.

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#23

Post by rob74 »

masfuerte wrote: post #15
sharms wrote: post #2

I would love to see more of this mindset - bring something new and unique in to the world, instead of mass produced, least price per unit mentality, like how car colors are trending towards black and white.

This design also serves a business purpose. You can see at a glance if someone has this week's pass without carefully checking the date. Our local bus company does something similar - the day passes have a random word for the day so you can't just print one at home, at least not without colluding with someone who's already bought a ticket.

Yup, that's the utilitarian reason for having a different design for each week. Most companies didn't go so far however. But even the monthly passes that I used in Romania during my youth were printed with different background colors every month (http://1.stpt.ro/forum/index.php?s=9978f358f69f69336b0cefcc5...).

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#24

Post by rob74 »

bluGill wrote: post #14
HumblyTossed wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing you say is necessarily wrong or bad, but it is why we can’t have beautiful things and only utilitarian shit.

Some things should be a utility. Nice is important but transit should fade into the background while you live life. Don't make them ugly but utility needs to be first.

Well, some people spend a significant amount of their time on transit. Of course, utility should come first, but I also would totally support trying to make them look nice (even if most people wouldn't notice nowadays because they stare at their phones the whole time).

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#25

Post by [deleted] »

rsynnott wrote: post #9

> Milwaukee claims to be the inventor of the weekly transit pass … so, really? In the 20th century? I’m _almost_ certain that the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (1834) did season tickets; remember seeing one once. Even if not that, surely some one did in the century between the invention of commuter rail and the Milwaukee one? (The Dublin and Kingstown railway, allegedly the first commuter railway in the world, is inte…

[deleted]

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#26

Post by rob74 »

Schiendelman wrote: post #16
HumblyTossed wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing you say is necessarily wrong or bad, but it is why we can’t have beautiful things and only utilitarian shit.

You can have lots of beautiful things. You can't REQUIRE beautiful things. Government services are a requirement.

Thinking like this is exactly what's wrong with public transport in most of the world. It has to be there, but god forbid you make it actually attractive, then people might use it more and it would cost even more. Better to keep it at a barely tolerable level and save the money for what really matters, like road projects.

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#27

Post by reaperducer »

Schiendelman wrote: post #16
HumblyTossed wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing you say is necessarily wrong or bad, but it is why we can’t have beautiful things and only utilitarian shit.

You can have lots of beautiful things. You can't REQUIRE beautiful things. Government services are a requirement.

You can't REQUIRE beautiful things.

Sure you can.

At least in the United States, there are many state and local laws requiring a certain percentage of the money spent on building projects be dedicated to making them look good, and to putting art inside them.

One example of many: https://sfca.hawaii.gov/art-in-public-places-program/percent...

Usually it's public projects, but often it's both public and private construction.

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#28

Post by anigbrowl »

Schiendelman wrote: post #8
sharms wrote: post #2

I would love to see more of this mindset - bring something new and unique in to the world, instead of mass produced, least price per unit mentality, like how car colors are trending towards black and white.

Not for transit please. This kind of thing is illegible (not to mention inaccessible) for visitors. Someone comes to your city and they want to ride a train instead of driving their rental car into your downtown. Your transit requires a card. They're not comfortable with your language, they have to find a machine, and the first one doesn't work right. They finally get a machine that works, after standing in line behi…

> Travel somewhere else for business or pleasure

> Insist that everything work indistinguishably from how it works at home

Not gonna make it

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#29

Post by scoot »

rsynnott wrote: post #9

> Milwaukee claims to be the inventor of the weekly transit pass … so, really? In the 20th century? I’m _almost_ certain that the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (1834) did season tickets; remember seeing one once. Even if not that, surely some one did in the century between the invention of commuter rail and the Milwaukee one? (The Dublin and Kingstown railway, allegedly the first commuter railway in the world, is inte…

> I’m _almost_ certain that the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (1834) did season tickets

Season and weekly are different things (obviously). If you narrow your claim down enough, of course you can be the first (patents or Guinness book of world records being prome examples.)

But the article isn't about that, it's about the design of the tickets. And they are a thing of beauty.

Re: When transit passes were designed by hand (2022)

#30

Post by Gigachad »

dfxm12 wrote: post #7

Having something as mundane as a transit pass be designed so beautifully installs a sense of civic pride. Plus, it employs artists. Both of these things are important for a community. Transit passes may have been phased out in a lot of places, but there are lots of opportunities for a city to design and display public art.

These days we just get repulsive AI slop plastered on everything.
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