Transit
Station subtitles shouldn't be excuse for longer names
Metro will use subtitles for long station names on the Metro map. This move bodes well for the clarity of the map, but the WMATA Board must be careful not to use it as an excuse to even further worsen name sprawl by making longer subtitles.
My map contest entry.
Metro's map is being redesigned because of major changes to service patterns next year and the construction of the Silver Line.
In March, we held a map contest to solicit ideas. Two of the maps, David Alpert's and mine, included subtitles to deal with long station names. WMATA's head of communications, Barbara Richardson, was a member of the jury and liked the idea enough to adopt it on the real maps.
But with a secondary name attached to the station, the region's elected officials need to restrain themselves from trying to tack even more onto station names. After all, some might argue, it's just a subtitle.
At the recent WMATA Board committee discussion, some members expressed some interest in listing more likely destinations on the map in small type. That would just clutter things further and make the map more difficult to use.
The Metro map does not need to be a place for advertising every potential destination a rider may visit. It needs to be a place where wayfinding is clear and easy to use. The same can be said of the signs on the station walls and in other locations.
WMATA's proposed station name policy would limit the total name, including the subtitle or "secondary name," to 19 characters for any future names. That's a good approach. The board should not just adopt it, but stick to it when making future choices.
Potential vault sign with subtitle. Design by author.
Long station names don't just clutter the map, they also make communication more difficult. Now that WMATA is moving toward a primary/secondary station name format, they should start using just the primary name in announcements and directional signage.
For people unfamiliar with the system, long station names can make for confusing announcements, like this one from the Orange Line: "Trains are currently sharing the same track between Dunn Loirng Merrifield and West Falls Church Virginia Tech University of Virginia." Is that a list of 2 stations or 5?
It also makes displaying information on the next train signs and tweeting disruptions difficult. For example, trains on the Yellow Line go to Mount Vernon Square during rush hours. And train signs and the train ETA signs say that. But platform signs at Gallery Place refer to it as Convention Center. Announcements and signage can be clearer and more consistent by using primary station names only.
Left: Pylon strip map at Fort Totten. The long station names mean wrapped text.
Right: What one would look like with only primary names. Both images by author.
I didn't include subtitles in my map contest entry to make waves. I included them because the contest rules said that station names couldn't change, and I didn't want to overlap route lines with text. If it had been solely up to me, I would've just shortened the station names to a reasonable length.
It's good to see WMATA taking a sensible approach to long names. The subtitles will help improve the clarity of the map. WMATA can expand on this opportunity and make the rest of the system easier to navigate by sticking to primary station names on other signs and keeping subtitles themselves from getting longer as well.
 | Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.    |
Comments
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by Dead Horse on Jul 18, 2011 3:39 pm • link • report
But c'mon, now that Well's has been replaced by Cheh, GGW has to go over all the nifty new ideas they want imposed.
by greent on Jul 18, 2011 3:45 pm • link • report
by charlie on Jul 18, 2011 3:59 pm • link • report
Kind of an aside, but I see you have a yellow dot next to Convention Center in your example diagram. I know what you are trying to convey (that during peak times, that station is a "transfer point") but it kind of looks like a mistake the way the Yellow Line is drawn, though I'm not sure there is a fix.
by Steven Yates on Jul 18, 2011 4:32 pm • link • report
Resolution to support adding “Golden Triangle” to Farragut Metro stations
I agree, names should be short.
by Lance on Jul 18, 2011 4:36 pm • link • report
Half of the conductors speak like they are barely literate or have food in their mouths.
by TGEOA on Jul 18, 2011 4:56 pm • link • report
by Tim on Jul 18, 2011 5:16 pm • link • report
The newest railcars will have recorded announcements.
Long station names are still an issue.
by Alex B. on Jul 18, 2011 5:19 pm • link • report
The name sprawl is far from being cured and any continuing support and guidance that the GGW community can provide to Metro and local politicians and WMATA board members is essential.
To think that you had to click, read, type and click again just to complain about a blog post topic. If you don't care so much, why bother?
by MDE on Jul 18, 2011 5:24 pm • link • report
Therefore, remember that many plane tickets say "Washington Reagan." I didn't like it when they changed the airport name, but for the benefit of our tourists, just call the Metro station "Reagan National Airport."
And let's clear up the confusion over two Farragut stations. One should be Farragut Square. Pick one. And find a different name for the other.
by Mike S. on Jul 18, 2011 5:33 pm • link • report
* Get rid of all cardinal directions where no conflict with other stations exists.
* Get rid of all the roads, avenues, streets and squares. Name the station after McPherson or Eisenhower, not after the square or avenue.
* Flip a coin and get rid of the double names, if both names are equally valid.
What you'd end up with are station names like:
Cardozo (just U would be too short)
Franconia (or Springfield, whatever)
Eisenhower (the president, not the avenue)
King (Sic semper tyrannis)
McPherson (the general, not the square)
Gallery Places (there's actually two galleries)
Armory (the stadium might not last forever)
College Park (really, there's a university there?)
Farragut (with tunnel)
Dupont (the admiral, not the teflon boys from Delaware)
Grosvenor (or Strathmore, whatever).
Largo
Branch
Reagan
Vienna
Much shorter
by Jasper on Jul 18, 2011 9:21 pm • link • report
I'm all about shortening the names, but I'm not sure Street or Avenue are such a problem. But my main comment is that it should still be Gallery Place just like Embassy Row has multiple embassies, but isn't Embassies Row.
by Jeff on Jul 18, 2011 10:04 pm • link • report
by Tom Coumaris on Jul 18, 2011 11:07 pm • link • report
The addition of Road, Avenue, or Square adds letters, but no information. It's an easy way of shortening names. Secondly, why name a station for a road, avenue or square? Why not for the name-giver of that road, avenue or square? Also, why focus on the orientation of the street grid when metro (rail) does not really use the street grid...
But my main comment is that it should still be Gallery Place just like Embassy Row has multiple embassies, but isn't Embassies Row.
I am proposing Gallery Places, not Galleries Place.
by Jasper on Jul 19, 2011 10:19 am • link • report
Using street, road, or square in some instances narrows the location a bit. For instance, Dupont is a neighborhood, Dupont Circle is a place. If someone told me they were "taking metro to King station" I'd be a bit confused. If they said they were "taking metro to King Street" I'd get it. However, I do agree that stations like NY Ave and Georgia Ave (which are incredibly long streets that do not give an indication of the stations location) are useless.
by 7r3y3r on Jul 19, 2011 11:08 am • link • report
by andrew on Jul 19, 2011 11:15 am • link • report
What new, breakign or vital information has been learned with this blog post? If this blog were an actual newspaper, and reran the same article 4 times.. well.. never mind. Blogs are not journalism.
The name sprawl is far from being cured and any continuing support and guidance that the GGW community can provide to Metro and local politicians and WMATA board members is essential.
It is not essential. It is nice, - a nice way for community involvement to be heard - but hardly essential.
by greent on Jul 19, 2011 12:28 pm • link • report
People will say “Well…Mt. Vernon Square is ALSO a neighborhood”.
So? If they want to get to that neighborhood then they can get off at Convention Center. People will adapt.
It’s taking everything short of an act of Congress to rename Waterfront-SEU. We're going to have the same issue when RFK gets imploded in a few years. There won't be a stadium at Stadium-Armory. Hopefully the "Plaza" in L'Enfant Plaza will be getting reworked in near future as well. If something could go away then it shouldn’t be in a name.
Metro needs to grasp the fact that it can't give all the information they want just through their station's name (perhaps they realize how useless it would be to rely on some of their station staff for help...but I digress).
You don’t have to spoon feed information to people. If you do, then spoon feeding won’t help and they’ll still get on the wrong train or get off at the wrong station anyway. If people want to see a DC United game then they’ll know what station to get off at regardless what you name it.
Just get rid of the needless subtitles, the misleading subtitles, or the just wrong subtitles.
by Michael on Jul 19, 2011 1:37 pm • link • report
Really? King St is about 5 miles long. How does calling a station "King Street station" in stead of "King Station" give you any more information on the location of the station? Braddock road goes for about 25 miles, mostly to the west of the station. The Van Dorn Street station is not even on Van Dorn Street! Good luck finding that station between I-395 and Telegraph Rd walking down Van Dorn St.
However, I do agree that stations like NY Ave and Georgia Ave (which are incredibly long streets that do not give an indication of the stations location) are useless.
When does a street become incredibly long? I maintain that the addition of Road, Street, Avenue or Square does not add any useful information helping someone find the station.
by Jasper on Jul 19, 2011 1:47 pm • link • report
In the end, it's a matter of taste but I think @Michael is spot on when he says that "Metro needs to grasp the fact that it can't give all the information they want just through their station's name."
by 7r3y3r on Jul 19, 2011 2:27 pm • link • report
by mike on Jul 19, 2011 2:34 pm • link • report
It actually goes further. It's King St until George Mason drive at the Alexandria-Fairfax border.
So, point taken; I can agree with not having street names on metro stations and understand your premise overall
Wait, what? Somebody acknowledges being convinced by an argument, and admits it? David, please take this comment down, immediately! What if people started following this exemplary behavior? We'd loose some of the funniest flame wars!
;-)
by Jasper on Jul 19, 2011 2:50 pm • link • report
by Larry Chang on Jul 20, 2011 10:36 am • link • report
by Nick on Jul 20, 2011 1:23 pm • link • report
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