Photo by tracktwentynine on Flickr.

Small signs to find elevators and inconsistent labels on elevator buttons make it hard to navigate the Metro system. Better signage could do a lot to help passengers needing to use elevators.

Last month, we featured a letter from Denver resident Deena Larsen, who attempted to use Metro in a wheelchair without much success. For riders unfamiliar with the system, it can be extremely difficult to find elevators. But signage changes could go a long way toward fixing the problem.

One of the problems with Metro’s elevators is that there is no standard approach to signage. This can make it very difficult to find one’s way around. It also means that one often needs to be familiar with a station in order to move successfully through the system.

Finding a lift: One of the first obstacles faced by wheelchair-bound riders is finding the elevator entrance into the system. Unlike the more common escalator shafts, elevators are often unaccompanied by the distinctive M-capped pylon, and are sometimes located blocks away from the main entrance.

Additionally, most stations have an elevator at only one mezzanine, when there are multiple entrances. Dupont Circle, for example, has 2 entrances. The south entrance empties onto 19th Street south of the Circle. The North entrance ejects riders onto the corner of 20th & Q Streets. Riders needing an elevator can only use the north entrance.

At Union Station, where Deena first encountered Metro, the south entrance, at Columbus Circle (and also from the Union Station Food Court), is elevator-less. The elevator is located at the north entrance, from the Amtrak concourse and First Street.

The people Deena asked for assistance didn’t know that there was no elevator from the south mezzanine. They did not know to direct her to the north entrance, and as a result, she got stranded. Metro should take steps to put signage at all non-accessible entrances directing riders to the nearest elevator. At Union Station, that might look something like this:

No Accessible Entrance:

Riders needing an elevator should use the north entrance to the station, located near First and G Streets NE or from the Amtrak concourse near the Post Office. Distance to north entrance is approximately 500 feet.

Alphabet soup: Using elevators in the system generally means encountering a mix of buttons labeled with one or two seemingly random letters. I’m pretty sure I recall a station where the platform elevator ran from T to E and the street elevator ran from M to E. In one case, the E clearly stands for exit. In the other case, the E stands for “mezzanine”. T stands for train, by the way, although that’s sometimes “P” for platform. And E is variously S for street.

These randomly applied letters don’t benefit users of the system who are not familiar with it, especially those who don’t speak English. And while many of Metro’s elevators only have two stops — the one you’re at and the other one — some stations present riders with a choice.

Take Fort Totten, for instance. A rider entering the station through the mezzanine gets on the elevator and sees “UL”, “M”, and “LL”. No signs inside or outside the elevator even hint about which lines are on which level. So unless you know the Red Line is above the mezzanine, you don’t know which button to press.

Left, existing signage inside Fort Totten’s elevator. Right, what it could look like.

Metro could easily add some small labels next to the buttons to clarify which button takes you to which line.

Dead ends and serial elevators: Another issue that riders face comes up at the downtown transfer stations. Those stations were designed without elevators in mind, so they were shoehorned into the stations before construction was complete. That often means riders have to take multiple elevators to navigate the system.

Let’s take L’Enfant Plaza, for example. The only elevator access to the street is from the Maryland Avenue entrance. That elevator takes riders to the north mezzanine. From there, they have a choice of elevators, one down to the Greenbelt/Fort Totten platform or one down to the Branch Avenue/Huntington platform. So far, so good. At almost all stations, riders have to use at least 2 elevators to access the platform — one between street and mezzanine and one between mezzanine and platform.

But to access the Blue or Orange lines, riders have to transit the Branch Avenue/Huntington Platform. There is no elevator access between the Greenbelt/Fort Totten plaform and the Blue/Orange lines. And that means that riders changing from a Vienna-bound train to a Greenbelt-bound train have to use 3 elevators to make the transfer. Signage here is pretty clear, though the actual path that riders have to take is onerous.

At Gallery Place, on the other hand, signage leaves a bit to be desired. The situation here is different. From the street, elevators take riders directly to their own fare control area on the Glenmont platform. If riders are coming from or going to Glenmont-bound trains, that’s pretty convenient.

To get to the Green or Yellow Lines, a second elevator trip is required. To get to Shady Grove-bound trains, riders have to navigate the Green/Yellow platform and board a third elevator. This elevator goes up, but is a dead-end for riders bound for an exit, as it only goes to the Shady Grove platform.

Yet, signage seems to indicate otherwise.

Photo by tracktwentynine on Flickr.

The elevator pictured above (#4) goes from the Green/Yellow line platform up to the Shady Grove platform. There is no accessible exit from the station via this elevator. A sign next to the call button says “elevator for [red dot] line to Shady Grove.” But hanging from the ceiling is a sign that boldly proclaims with a wheelchair icon, “Exit to Arena, Galleries. [Red dot] all trains.”

What the sign means is that both elevators are down the platform in that direction. But at that location, the sign seems to indicate that elevator #4 will take riders to all those places. In cases like this, Metro should put bold signage on the elevator, perhaps on the elevator doors themselves, that indicates precisely where the elevator goes and that it does not lead to an exit.

Metro GM Richard Sarles responded to Deena’s letter, telling her that Metro was working to improve the reliability of elevators and making the system more accessible. And, according to Ms. Larsen, Metro officials actually went out with her to visit some sites in the system. It’s great to hear that WMATA management are interested in raising the bar for elevator access.

But running an accessible transit system is about more than just keeping the elevators in working order. It’s also about ensuring that riders can find them and know where to go once they get on board.

Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington area since 2007. He has a Master’s in Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He lives in Dupont Circle. He’s a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and is an employee of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. His views are his own and do not represent those of his employer.