Thursday, February 11, 2010

SkyTrain is Easy

One of the benefits of the Olympics Games is the improvement to wayfinding on the SkyTrain network. While many regular users of SkyTrain find the network easy to use, many first time riders can get very confused. You would not believe the amount of times that I’ve seen people at King George SkyTrain station unsure of what train to get onto (there is only one train and it only goes one direction). Anyway, one of the barriers to transit use is the perception that it is confusing. TransLink has made the following types of improvement in the downtown core as pictured. It would be great to see this rolled out across the whole network. Whatever can be done to make transit easier to use is a good thing.




New Larger Signage at Station Entrances



Clear System Map



Easy to Read Bus Map



Platform Number Maps with all the Stations along the Route



Platform Numbers

2 comments:

ABC said...

I had the pleasure of visiting the area in December, and found SkyTrain quick and efficient. However, I also had a few issues with understanding it.

First, it's not always obvious where the stations are when they are underground. Some wayfinding signs would be helpful. If they already exist, I didn't notice them.

Second, when in an underground station, it can be hard to figure out where the exits go. Eventually I just took the attitude of any exit is better than none, and then figure out where I needed to go once I was on the surface.

companyofheroes said...

I just rode the metro in Los Angeles today, and have to say they are really great about wayfinding at their stations. Each station has a system rail map, a system bus map, and a local map showing local attractions, the street grid, and local transit connections. Really makes things easier. Only thing is their trains do not announce where they are going on the red and purple lines. Nice that skytrain always says on the screen where the train is going.