XPost: misc.transport.urban-transit

In misc.transport.rail.americas Glen Labah  wrote:
> Therefore, SoundTransit is required to adopt an emblem for each of its
> stations so that it may be identified on a map. [...]

Did they get some feedback from riders or potential riders that the
signage was an obstacle to riding?

> To me it seems terrible to try to distinguish what emblem is what once
> they get small enough to get put on a map.

I had to zoom way in on that Mexico City one to see the icons.  It's
easy to get resolutions of 300 or 600 dpi on paper, but most computer
displays are only around 100 dpi; this affects any transit system that
wants to show maps on their ticket machine screens, website, etc.

> The discussion of this over at the Seattle Transit Blog [...]
> includes a comment about how it is very difficult to find your way
> around Japan in places where station names only include the name in
> Kanji, and it can be very difficult for the non-initiated to try to
> decipher these.

I have read that the bigger cities tend to have a number for each
station, which is displayed on signs, maps, etc, along with the name in
Japanese.  You can get maps in popular languages that show the stations
by number.

Tokyo seems to use a color and letter (keyed to each line) and a station
number along the line.  They claim that this makes it easier to count
stations to your destination, and helps you figure out if you are going
the right direction.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/subwaymap/

I wonder if they skip numbers for future stations or closed stations,
or if they have to renumber everything when that happens?

"Smaller" cities don't seem to do this... the official map of the
Hiroshima transit system just has the station names in Japanese.
http://www.hiroden.co.jp/en/s-routemap.html
The streetcars have the line number as an Arabic numeral, and the
terminal station name in English, in addition to something in Japanese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroden6566.jpg

Googling on the Beijing metro seems to say that all their signs are in
Chinese.  The Wikipedia article says that there are voice announcements
in Mandarin and English for all stations.

In Germany, there doesn't seem to be a letter or number for each station
on the public signs, at least in the cities I have visited.  I think
they use more icons in their station signs than US transit systems - a
soccer ball for the exit closest to the stadium, a factory for the exit
towards the industrial district, etc.

Matt Roberds

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