Core77

The Efficient Passenger Project vs. the MTA: Is Good Signage a Bad Idea?

By Rain Noe - February 12, 2014

in Urbanism

I just came from a Dunkin' Donuts, where some idiot left their bag and an iPhone on top of it completely unattended. The iPhone was charging, plugged into an outlet in the wall near the pick-up queue, which was well away from the tables; and of the folks seated at the tables, no one was bothering to keep an eye on the bag, even as a steady line of strangers moved past it. That wouldn't have happened here 20 years ago, when living in then-high-crime NYC actually required street smarts and common sense.

Common sense also has its place while not just riding, but boarding the subway. Every native I know with a regular commute has learned which I-beam to stand next to when the train arrives, in order to hit door X of car Y, which perfectly places you by the desireable stairwell Z when you exit, speeding your commute. But now the anonymous person behind the Efficient Passenger Project, as they're calling it, is seeking to install signs that do all of that work for you. By tracking which areas of the platform will line you up with particular transfers and exits, the EPP seeks to "[facilitate] a faster, more enjoyable commute."

From a design standpoint, the EPP has kept the Helvetica, in an effort to make the signs look like the MTA commissioned them. Which they haven't; and in fact, as the EPP surreptitiously gets the signs up, the MTA is just as quickly taking them down. Why are they opposed? The MTA cites it will unbalance the trains, leading some cars with desireable areas to be stuffed while others go empty.

I myself think the signs are a dumb idea. Regular commuters should be smart enough to figure this stuff out for themselves, and as for the tourists riding the subway for the first time, are they really in a rush? They're not, judging by the way they slowly traipse down sidewalks and platforms four abreast, blocking the passage of people who actually have some place to go.

Part of what made NYC, NYC was that it was once a tough place to get by in. People here were survivors, and if they weren't clever, they got clever, or else they washed out and moved someplace else where they could actually cut it. In short, I think a coddled New Yorker is no New Yorker at all.

(P.S. Guess what, stop walking around with your mouth agape and your nose buried in your phone, and your phone won't get snatched.)

o

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Truth Teller

9 years ago

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What if NYC became 'cooler' if it became more efficient?
I argue that the signs help keep flow of traffic in the subway stations cleaner and more efficient.
Tourists may just 'get out of your way' faster.
They should also include signs that say: "Don't walk around like a selfish boob & knock into people just because you're in a rush".
"If you're late-Don't take it out on the rest of us, set your clock earlier."
I hope the mentality of a city dweller enjoying inefficiency & crappy city infrastructure because it's 'Cool New York City' dies out eventually.

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Tom Mc

10 years ago

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I agree with you here - let the commuters figure out their own efficiencies.

I used to live in Chicago and my biggest peeve was people getting in my way. Not because they were trying to be rude but they were just so oblivious, slow, and painfully ignorant when riding public trans during rush hour!

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Kivi Shapiro

10 years ago

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There is an unofficial Subway Rider Efficiency Guide for the Toronto Transit Commission (http://ttcrider.ca/); perhaps the design would be scaleable to a larger system like New York's.
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emanster provolone

10 years ago

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interesting idea. an app for those in the know would be better. This is kinda one of those things thats cool to know, but even cooler when not everyone knows about it.
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C

10 years ago

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Yah, just what I need. A sign telling me how to piss off the people who care about wanting to be places efficiently.
As a tourist I need the opposite!
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Sam

10 years ago

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Just to play devils advocate here, I find it interesting that the Core77 blog regularly features articles about people using design to solve problems, and complaining about "unfriendly design" - elements of cities intentionally designed to make your life harder.

So why is it that when it comes to the subway, a design-based solution to make it better is a bad thing? I've only been to NYC a few times (not a gaper though, thanks), and found the subway system reasonably simple. I can't comment on the actual effectiveness of such signage (IE, do the strategies they propose only work when a small number of the passengers know about them?), but it seems like there is always room for improvement.

I know NYC likes to think of itself as hard, but making your city better is still a good decision. I'm sure many things contributed to making NYC the city it is today, but "complicated subway" probably isn't much of a benefit.
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