Several readers have asked about this: all Expo and Blue Line trains will be leaving from platform 2 at the 7th/Metro Center station in downtown Los Angeles.
Announcements are being made in the station. Another easy way to tell which train is an Expo Line train and which is a Blue Line train is to look at the signs on the train.
If it says “La Cienega” it’s an Expo Line train.
If it says “Del Amo, Willow or Long Beach” it’s a Blue Line train.
Since all of the bus lines have a number, why not letter the trains and BRT?
At least Metro finally added adequate signage direction for the Silver Line. Maybe now people will probably give it a try!
The answer is to use colors only as a secondary ID such as on maps, but move to a LETTER system for all Metro Rail, but NOT for BRT that aren’t rail. People have always been confused with the color system, and, in fact many I know don’t even use it in conversation but refer to Subway. As for LRT, those same folks do use color in chat, but even they have said it is confusing and should use letters or some other designation.
A few people said the trains should have the same colors paint scheme as the line they operate. I am also thinking of D.C. Metro and how the colored lights illuminate to give the train a glow of the color of the service for that train..
A taped up piece of paper 8.5×11 with a HUGH ‘E’ printed in times new roman should be sufficient for Art and his Metro design team.
“Another easy way to tell which train is an Expo Line train and which is a Blue Line train is to look at the signs on the train.”
Yeah, stick out your head out from the platform to figure out what the incoming train is. Great idea and a disaster waiting to happen.
You know what other agencies do? They have digital signages on the platform that read “next train: BART Dublin/Pleasanton” as opposed to “next train: BART Richmond.”
Is it really that difficult? For those who are visually-impared, when you hear the announcement then you know which train is there. If you can SEE the train, then you know which train it is. Either Blue Line or Expo Line.
Also, rail cars can be used on other lines (when additional cars are needed) so changing colors on the trains will not help.
Then again, a few weeks ago, I did see people flock to the two-car train that clearly had “La Cienega” on the side of the train (as the annoucement that the train was not in service blared over the speakers).
The problem is that the trains themselves have faded out digital signage which makes it very difficult to read where it’s headed. Have you looked at them? Majority of them displays texts that are so faint and faded that it looks like an old dot matrix cell phone running out of battery.
So the announcements are bad you can’t hear them. The signage is so faded out you can’t read them. With both out of the question, of course there’s going to be confusion.
They need better signage on the trains like bright colored texts on black background LEDs like these:
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/Tokyo-Metro-Fukutoshin-Train-thumb.jpg
Then again, Metro isn’t a for profit enterprise so there’s no funds to do such upgrades. You want something like this, y’all need to pay higher taxes.
Speaking of signage – the updated Purple/Red line maps that are overhead in the cars are placed backwards. The end stations should be reversed, ie. Union Station should be facing the direction of Union Station and vice versa. Right now, if you’re traveling in a direction, you have to continually read the map backwards to figure out the next stop – this is how they are placed on the station platforms, why not on the actual subway car you’re riding in? Metro spent a bit of money on doing 2 versions of these for both the left AND right sides of the cars as mirror images, but they weren’t put up correctly.
Hi Mike;
Here’s an earlier post on the Expo Line destinations guide that includes some restaurants along the line. When the line opens to Culver City — likely this summer — there will be a lot to add to the list.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
And while we’re discussing improving signage/graphics, when is Metro ever going to add purple dots at the stations from Vermont to Union Station shared with the red line, as well as fix the line color graphic designations at Pico and Metro Center?