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Call me old-fashioned, but I like the names the way they are. Some could be truncated, but I understand the reason for some of the elongated names. The best feature of the Metro system is its ease of use for the millions of visitors to DC each year. Business travelers coming into National Airport can quickly determine that the convention center is located at Mt. Vernon Square. Same thing with tourists getting to the National Zoo, or the Smithsonian. There's no guessing required, and that's probably the reason why "Ballpark" was added to Navy Yard station on your version.

Additionally, some of the revised names don't really make sense. While I've never been a fan of naming stations after streets (e.g. Georgia Ave station could theoretically be located anywhere along Georgia Ave), names like "Upper Northwest" and "Beltway North" are equally confusing.

As for attaching the university names, it's my understanding that the names indicate which station you should use to catch the shuttles direct to each university. Since higher education institutions are some of the largest employers in the region, and attract tens of thousands each day to their campuses, it makes sense to indicate them on the Metro map.

by Adam L on Mar 10, 2009 10:20 am • link • report