The best use of a time/ distance table is a train or bus schedule or the television program listing. The main purpose of these charts is to show what takes place over a period of time.

These types of tables are normally used in conjunction with multiple questions that require the reader to answer questions based on time, distance, and sometimes speed.

For example:

Here is part of a train schedule for trains from Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent.

Manchester	07 53	09 17	10 35	11 17	13 30	14 36	16 26
Stockport	08 01	09 26	10 43	11 25	13 38	14 46	16 39
Macclesfield	08 23	09 38	10 58	11 38	13 52	14 58	17 03
Congleton	08 31	-	-	11 49	-	15 07	17 10
Kidsgrove	08 37	-	-	-	-	-	17 16
Stoke-on-Trent	08 49	10 00	11 23	12 03	14 12	15 19	17 33

 

1. A train leaves Stockport at 11:17. What time does it arrive in Stoke-on-Trent?

 

 

2. Michael has a meeting in Stoke-on-Trent at 2.45pm. He will be boarding his train in Macclesfield. What is the latest possible time he can leave in order to not be late for his meeting?
   1. How many minutes will his train journey take?

 

3. The 14 36 train from Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent takes less time than the 16 26 train from Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent. How many minutes less?

 

The table shows the distances in kilometres between some cities in the USA.

Boston
1589	Chicago
4891	3366	Los Angeles
2474	2184	4373	Miami
342	1352	4539	2133	New York
5067	3493	667	4990	4826	San Francisco

1. Write down the distance between Los Angeles and New York.

One of the cities in the table is 2184 km from Miami.

2. Write down the name of this city.

 

3. Write down the name of the city which is furthest from San Francisco.

 

This diagram shows the distances, in miles, between some service areas on the M1 motorway.

Use this diagram to fill in the missing spaces in the table below.

Toddington
26	Scratchwood
70		Watford Gap
	83	39	Woodall
	111		28	Trowell

 

As you are able to see from the above examples that these styles of questions can come in a variety of ways, with any amount  of questions that link to the data. The complexity of the questions depends on the level of study for the reader, but typically they will always be set up similar to these.