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If you have more than one station using the same geographical area in the name, then you have to be absolutely unambiguous as to where the station is located. I think for Tysons it's imperative to recognize that the two main shopping malls will be a major destination for a lot of riders and that if you have multiple stops named "Tysons whatever" you make it confusing for those people. After all, let's not forget how many DC-area drivers found it baffling when the Western Beltway was I-495 and the Eastern Beltway was I-95, or when Virginia and Maryland both had roads named "George Washington Memorial Parkway."

I voted as follows:

(1) Westgate (for the stop near the Capital One building; I dislike "McLean" because Central McLean is too far from there to walk, I dislike "Capital One" because if that company moves or is renamed the name is outdated, and I dislike "Tysons anything" because it's on the other side of the Beltway from the area most people know as Tysons)

(2) Tysons (Malls)--with the parentheses like that. Hit the riders over the head. "Malls" is unambiguous. I don't like "Tysons I & II" as much because a lot of people call Tysons II "the Galleria." I suppose that's really its correct name, but either way, the two malls are sometimes called by a variety of names depending on how long the person speaking has lived around here. "Malls" is about as clear as can be.

(3) Central Tysons (swap the words from what Fairfax County wanted so that ONLY the mall stop would begin with the word "Tysons" for extra clarity. Can't use "Westpark" because it sounds too similar to "Westgate" two stops to the east, plus a lot of the office parks on Westpark Drive are quite a long way from this stop)

(4) Spring Hill (drop "Road" to make it sound less restrictive as to what it serves....the area is full of car dealers and auto-body shops now, but having the Metrorail might spur redevelopment just like what happened in Arlington)

(5) Wiehle Avenue (no other good options)

(6) Reston Town Center (no-brainer, and it's a precise location within the much larger area that is Reston)

(7) Herndon-Monroe (the name is already well-established. I thought about "Fairfax County Parkway," but that road is really long and so such a name would be ambiguous.)

(8) Route 28 (yes, that suffers from the same problem as "Fairfax County Parkway," but something like 75% or more of the traffic will reach that stop via Route 28 and the other proposed names are meaningless to just about everyone).....I guess if you don't like "Route 28" you could use "Sully Road," but I think that name is receding into history since the road was upgraded to a freeway. I'm not sure when I last heard anyone call it "Sully Road."

by Rich on Feb 21, 2012 6:15 pm • link • report