In a timetable each row is a stop and each column is one bus or train. To find when a bus arrives somewhere, find its starting time, then keep your finger in that column and move down to the stop you want. To find how long a trip takes, count up from the leaving time to the o'clock, then on to the arriving time. To catch the next bus, cross out the times at your stop that are earlier than when you get there. The first time left is your bus.
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Move the hands
3:00
The short hand moves between hour numbers as the minutes pass. One full turn of the long hand is sixty minutes.
Words to know
- timetable
- a table showing when buses or trains reach each stop
- departure
- the time a bus or train leaves
- arrival
- the time a bus or train gets to a stop
Worked examples
A bus leaves Park Street at 8:35 and is in the Bus 2 column. The Bus 2 column shows 9:12 at Beach Road. When does it reach Beach Road?
- 1.Stay in the Bus 2 column.
- 2.Read the Beach Road row.
= 9:12
How many minutes is it from 8:35 to 9:12?
- 1.8:35 to 9:00 is 25 minutes.
- 2.9:00 to 9:12 is 12 more: 25 + 12 = 37.
= 37
Buses leave the Library at 8:50 and 9:20. You arrive at 8:55. The 9:20 bus reaches Beach Road at 9:42. When do you get there?
- 1.The 8:50 bus has gone, so catch the 9:20.
- 2.Follow its column to Beach Road.
= 9:42
For parents
Method: One column is one bus or train
What to say: Which column is your bus? Keep your finger in it. Is the question about leaving or arriving?
Common mistakes:
- Reads the right stop but in the wrong column, so gives a time for a different bus or train.
- Reads the right column but the wrong row, so uses the time at a neighbouring stop.
- Finds a journey time by subtracting the times as ordinary numbers (9:12 − 8:35 as 912 − 835).
- Counts up to the next o'clock and stops, forgetting the minutes after it.
- Uses the bus or train that has already left before the traveller got to the stop.
- Finds the right service but gives the time it leaves, not the time it arrives.