The aims of the present study were twofold: (1) to determine the effectiveness of various map formats in presenting mass transit information; and (2) to assess subjects’ internal representation of spatial features of the environment. It was hypothesized that bus route selection would be a function of both the amount of detail and the road structure presented in maps and that the effect of detail and road structure would depend upon the familiarity of the mapped area. A 2 X 2 X 2 (Familiarity x Detail x Road Structure) factorial design was employed in the experiment. The familiarity factor was manipulated by mapping a familiar area (Blacksburg, Virginia) and an unfamiliar area (an altered section of London, England). Detail was manipulated by including or not including roads and landmarks on the maps. Road Structure was manipulated by presenting roads in either a veridical or a simplified manner.

Performance on a map reading task was used to assess the effects of the independent variables. Fourty undergraduate subjects were required to first locate two intersections on a bus route map and second, to determine a bus route between the two intersections. Five dependent measures of map reading ability were obtained. Results indicated that, for both familiar and unfamiliar areas, a veridical road structure yielded less errors and faster times for determining a bus route than did a simplified road structure, and that detail lengthened the time to perform the task.