Everyday life online
Finding a route on public transit
What you will be able to do In 6 minutes, you'll know how to search for a route on public transit, choose the best option, and respond to a service alert.
Searching for a route means asking an app to tell you which bus, tram, or train to take to get from one place to another. You enter where you're leaving from, where you're going, and what time you need to arrive. The app then suggests several possible trips, with their schedules and transfers: the moments when you switch vehicles along the way. It also flags disruptions, incidents that slow a line down. We're going to do this search together, from start to finish, on a screen we designed. Nothing here is real: no trip is actually calculated, and no place corresponds to a specific location.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYou need to meet your daughter before noon, in a neighborhood you don't know, without knowing which bus to take.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
Where you're going
Your turn Touch the field where you enter the place you want to go.
We touch the To field, still empty, and enter the desired place there: here, your daughter's place. The From field, meanwhile, keeps your current location.
Arriving on time
Your turn You need to arrive before noon. Touch what lets you set that.
By touching the Time field, you choose "Arrive by" then noon, instead of "Leave now": the app then works out the departure time you need.
The right option
Your turn Three options are shown. Touch the one that truly works for you.
We compare the three options on arrival time and announced service status: the one that arrives on time, with no disruption reported, wins, even if it's not the fastest on paper.
Understanding a transfer
Your turn Touch the line that tells you where to switch vehicles.
The middle line announces the transfer: getting off the bus, walking two minutes, then boarding the tram. It's this switch, and only this, that's called a transfer.
An alert during the trip
Your turn An alert appears while you're on your way. Touch what you do.
We touch "See another suggested route": the app immediately recalculates, from your current location, a route that avoids the reported incident.
The sheet to keep
- The starting point often fills itself in, with your location; it's the destination you write in.
- Setting the time you need to arrive helps the app choose the right departure.
- An option that looks the fastest can hide a disrupted line: the note under each trip says so.
- A transfer means getting off one vehicle to walk to the next; that walking time is already counted in the announced duration.
- The arrival time and the number of transfers matter as much as the displayed duration.
- An alert during the trip is worth checking out: another route can be calculated in a few seconds.
The reflexes in this skill
I stop before I click
Urgency is the sign of a trap. A message that counts down the hours is trying to stop you from thinking. Putting your phone down for two minutes costs nothing, and it is almost always enough.
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
You need to arrive before noon. One option looks the fastest but shows a disrupted line. What do you choose?
See the answer
Another option, with no disruption reported, that still gets you there on time
The stated duration for a disrupted line is no longer reliable: departures are spaced further apart, and the wait can grow. An option with no alert that still meets your arrival time is the safer choice.
What is a transfer, in a public transit route?
See the answer
The moment when you get off one vehicle to take another
Switching vehicles along the way is called a transfer. The walking time between the two is already counted in the total duration announced by the app.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.