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Biography Graduated from Cambridge University in Geography and Geodetic & Topographical Surveying, and then spent a year with George Philip Ltd editing atlases and road maps, before completing an M.A. at the University of Maryland on road map design. After finishing the research for my Ph.D. at McGill University in Montreal, I spent 2.5 years on a NASA research project on the potential usefulness of satellite photography (a novelty in 1963) in geography. From 1966 to 2001, I was a full-time member of staff in this department. In the later part of this period my teaching was almost entirely concerned with GIS (geographical information systems). Since 2001, I have been an Honorary Research Fellow in this department.
Research interests My research has been mainly concerned with methods of supplying route information for motorists and travellers by public transport, whether by means of paper maps or by electronic communication linked to a geographic information system.
I developed the ‘road speed map’ and demonstrated its superiority over conventional road maps for route planning. This led to joint research with a traffic engineer (Roy Hewitt) on means of forecasting traffic speed from road characteristics.
Since 1985 I have been more concerned with innovative types of public transport maps generated automatically from a geographic information system, and spatial aspects of electronic displays of public transport information, including those transmitted over the Internet or to mobile devices. In particular, there is scope for research on the detailed design or the testing of ‘stop-specific route maps’ or ‘octobus’ maps.
Examples of Post-graduate Students’ Research Topics
'An automatic route planning and mapping system' (Margaret Giffen, 1985) - ESRC Linked Studentship - British Cartographic Society’s Laserscan Award for Digital Cartography, Transport Reviews Prize, and Field Survey Association Civilian Prize.
'An experimental investigation into the design and perception of line symbol series on route planning maps' (Graham Gill, 1986) - ESRC Collaborative Studentship with the Institute of Aviation Medicine. - Universities Transport Study Group Prize.
‘Using desktop GIS for the investigation of transport accessibility: an isochrone approach’ (David O’Sullivan, 1997, supervised jointly by A.Morrison & J. Shearer) - Association of Geographic Information’s Student of the Year Award 1998.
Current research Analysing the influences on the provision of location-based information for passengers on public transport in towns in 16 countries in western Europe (including Britain). This includes the influence of characteristics of the towns such as their population and whether they lie with in the area of a passenger transport authority, and also the influence of national characteristics such as taxation levels. Both qualitative methods (interviews with 94 persons in 53 towns, responsible for commissioning or designing maps or other spatial displays), and quantitative methods (based on surveys of the provision of spatial information in 58 towns) are being used.
Examples of Earlier Publications, in chronological order
Principles of road classification for road maps of western Europe and North America. Cartographic Journal, vol.3, 1966, pp 17-30.
Experimental maps of road travel speed. Cartographic Journal, vol. 8, 1971, pp 115-132 (with 4 pages of coloured maps).
Testing the effectiveness of road speed maps and conventional road maps. Cartographic Journal, vol.11, 1974, pp 102-115.
Existing and improved road classifications for British road maps, related to the speed of traffic. Cartographic Journal, vol.17, 1980, pp 111-123.
Using the Department of Transport's Road Network Databank to produce route planning maps. Cartographic Journal, vol.18, 1981, pp 91-95.
Linpoint: a program for drawing maps of lines and points: user manual. Geography Department Glasgow University Occasional Papers no. 6, 1981, 76 pp.
(with R Hewitt) Spatial sampling considerations involved in modelling speeds on rural single carriageway roads in Scotland, in Mathematics in Transport Planning and Control, (ed. J.D.Griffiths), Clarendon Press, 1992, ISBN 0-19-853650-X, pp 169-182.
Recent publications Evans, G.D., Forrest, D. and Morrison, A. (2008) Where Do the Buses Go? The Development and Applications of the 'Stop-Specific' Bus Map, Proceedings of the 4th Annual Scottish Transport Applications and Research Conference (STAR), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, April 2008, PTRC, UK. Morrison, A. 2007. The geospatial content of public transport websites for 60 localities worldwide. Journal of Maps, v.2007, 1-19. View full text >> Morrison, A., Influences on the quality of spatial information about urban public transport: full report of research activities and results (15pp.), part of final report to ESRC on award no. R000222713, May 2001. D. O'Sullivan, A. Morrison, and J. Shearer. Using desktop GIS for the investigation of accessibility by public transport: an isochrone approach, International Journal of Geographical Information Science, vol. 14, no. 1, 2000, pp. 85-104. Spatial information about public transport: the situation in British urban areas compared with that in the rest of the European Union. Unpublished paper presented orally at the British Cartographic Society's 37th Annual Symposium, Oxford, England, September 2000. (Copies available on request). The causes of differences in the quality and quantity of spatial information about urban public transport within the European Union, Proceedings of the European Transport Conference, Cambridge, England, vol. P440, Seminar E: Planning and management of public transport systems, September 2000, pp. 219-233. Le mappe di trasporto pubblico nelle città dell'europa occidentale. Trasporti Pubblici, vol. 13, no. 5, June 1997, pp 51-59 (with 8 illustrations in colour and 9 in black-and-white ). Alternative information technologies for the provision of spatial information to public transport passengers in France, Germany and Spain. Transport Reviews, vol.16, no. 3, 1996, pp 243-271 (with 16 illustrations in black-and-white and 8 in colour). Designing 'octopus' bus maps for districts within a city, with the aid of scale distortion, Cartographica, vol. 33, no. 4, winter 1996, pp 37-60 (with 25 illustrations in black-and-white). Public transport maps in Western European cities. Cartographic Journal, vol. 33, 1996, pp 93-110 (with 14 illustrations in colour and 12 in black-and-white). Les différences entre les plans des transports publics en France, en Allemagne et en Espagne. Mappemonde, no.3/95, 1995, pp 23-29 (with 7 illustrations in colour). Why are French public transport maps so distinctive compared with those of Germany and Spain? Cartographic Journal, vol. 31, 1994, pp113-122, (with 20 colour illustrations). Recent research grants Morrison, A. 1999-2001. The influences on the quality of spatial information about urban public transport. Economic and Social Research Council. Research contract with the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive for the production of an innovative type of
bus map (‘zone map’) from their computer database (1986-1988). Morrison, A. 1985-1987. Research grant from the Science and Engineering Research Council to develop a software package which would generate innovative types of public transport computer maps |
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