Safer pedestrian crossings for the Expo Line

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“Tiger stripes” at Expo/USC crossing. Photo by Anna Chen/Metro

Some of you may have noticed the neat new stripes at the crossings of 23rd Street Station and Expo/USC Station.

It’s all part of making Expo Line’s pedestrian crossings that much safer. Not only do the stripes designate proper crossing areas, they remind everyone to be a little bit more aware of the train tracks. Even if you’ve got your head down and eyes glued to your phone, the glittery stripes are hard to miss.

The tiger stripes will be installed at all non-gated pedestrian crossings along the Expo Line over the next few months and eventually cover crossings at the Blue and Gold Lines as well.

Categories: Safety

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11 replies ›

  1. ^ Typo in my last post. I suppose we should *encourage* or ensure pedestrian safety, not discourage it. LOL.

  2. A good first move, but additional work is needed to discourage pedestrian safety near stations. One such measure should be rexamining the timing of walk signals and the placement of crosswalk buttons. And while we’re on it, especially near a Metro station, pedestrians should not be required to *request* a walk signal at all. Traffic signals should automatically give lengthy walk signals during every signal cycle. It’s a Metro station after all; and Metro station areas should be optimized for pedestrians (and cyclists). 🙂

  4. Anna, I definitely agree with you that too many words will be distracting and blend into the background. A thick yellow line continuing (without words) between each would be good, though with the new striping, it’s less important, I had been wondering this especially before the striping went in.

  5. You’d think seeing train tracks in the middle of the road would be enough to warn people that they should be on the lookout for a train when they are crossing, but most people are idiots. I hope these added measures help but I wouldn’t bet much on it.

  6. Anna, my first point was in regards to the WAIT HERE line in between the pylons/bollards. In the bottom right of your photo you can see that there is a line in between some and not others. This is not where the fencing would be and I was wondering why they skipped every other space or so.

    • Ah, I’m sorry I must have read your previous question wrong. If you want an exact answer, I could track down the person who designed that feature, but if you’ll accept my personal opinion I think they skipped a space between the ‘wait heres’ to avoid clutter. Having too many words on the ground can be distracting, or the words simply blend into the background. Having a few more strategically placed words draws the attention to them better.

      And in reply to NG, I believe the pylons are also in place to help manage the crowds. Pedestrians will have to slow down around the tracks to navigate the pylons, and it’s just an attempt to get people to pay attention. Although I agree it does look a bit cluttered!

      Anna Chen
      The Source, Contributor

  7. why are there two rows of bollards? It seems very unnecessary. The bollards are there I assume to protect from automobiles but bollards separating the track from the walk area just make it cramped and cluttered.

  8. Not so sure if the lines will help anyone.
    Seems like most people don’t pay attention and or they think they are safe when walking on stripes.
    People need to be aware of their surroundings when pedestrian………….

  9. Why do the yellow WAIT HERE stripes only cover the area in between some of the pylons and not all of them all the way across?

    Also, at the 23rd street station, there are some vertical yellow bars at the end of the pedestrian entrance so that people don’t walk out of the crosswalk directly into the intersection… Metro should install these same things at the Jefferson/USC station… the tiny “waiting area” in the middle of the crosswalk for the southbound platform is particularly dangerous as pedestrians are sandwiched between trains on the left, southbound traffic on the right, and the open intersection in front of them.

    • Hi Steve,

      The fencing around the tracks will soon be extended to meet the pylons, preventing people from crossing in that area, so stripes weren’t installed there.

      The crossing at Jefferson will definitely be getting stripes, so keep an eye out! Metro is installing them as materials come in.

      Thanks,

      Anna Chen
      The Source, Contributor