Glossary A–ZLetter D
Departure board
A departure board is an on-screen display that shows the next departures of buses, trains or other transport from one or more nearby stops.
It is not placed at the stop itself but inside buildings such as hotels, offices, universities or hospitals. The data comes from a journey planner, often with real-time delays.
In practice, the departure board is one area of a reception or foyer screen, for example next to a welcome message and the weather. Guests can see on their way out whether it is worth heading for the stop and do not need to ask at reception. It usually shows the line, destination, departure time or the minutes until departure.
Operators should choose the stops and the number of lines deliberately: too many departures make the display unreadable. It also matters what appears when data is missing; an outdated list without any notice is worse than an empty area. The terms of use of the data source may require a credit line.