Toronto Union Pearson Express | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | MMM Group Limited

Napoleon said:
I had a hilarious experience last week. I was in the Monocle Store, you know the store that sells the $140 candles and other similarly overpriced items. Somehow it came up that their marketing agency had done all the branding for the UP Express. They were certain that therefore it must be amazing. I didn't have the heart to tell the snooty clerk that no one could find the train.
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Got to wonder whether they are responsible for "the video".

AoD
 
Adjei said:
When I was complaining some weeks ago about these useless signs over the place which are utterly confusing someone was telling it's irrelevant because most people coming to take the trains would have already researched about the train and the name. I guess that must be why so many are complaining? That must also be why Metrolinx's own data shows that the biggest complaints are that people can't find where the stations. These utterly useless signs are confusing people. The whole of Union Station is a confusing mess with the signs. It's a big shame.
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I think that was me...and I wasn't telling you (or anyone) anything...I was suggesting that I find it bizarre that the signage is causing confusion because I doubt strongly that anyone is just showing up at Union looking for a train to the airport without doing a bit of research and that research would clearly associate "UP" with "trains to the airport"......while I acknowledge that it seems to be an issue, I still stand by my notion that it is bizarre that it is causing confusion.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Got to wonder whether they are responsible for "the video".
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If you've been to the Monocle shop, you would not be surprised. I just went to look for it, but can't find a link to the original video anywhere. It was properly hilarious. All I can find instead is the Snowpiercer spoof.
 
Napoleon said:
If you've been to the Monocle shop, you would not be surprised. I just went to look for it, but can't find a link to the original video anywhere. It was properly hilarious. All I can find instead is the Snowpiercer spoof.
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Yeah the video got wiped, I am sure someone got a copy stashed somewhere but it's pretty evident that the powers that be deemed it something to drop down the memory hole (now what does the fact that it was even released tell you about said folks' sense of judgement?)

As to Monocle...well, it was sort of the ex-Wallpaper, nuff said.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Yeah the video got wiped, I am sure someone got a copy stashed somewhere but it's pretty evident that the powers that be deemed it something to drop down the memory hole (now what does the fact that it was even released tell you about said folks' sense of judgement?)

As to Monocle...well, it was sort of the ex-Wallpaper, nuff said.

AoD
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Anything Tyler Brule touches, I would walk away from.

Given his comments about Toronto, he should not have been hired to market anything relating to this city (and market poorly I may add).
 
TOareaFan said:
I think that was me...and I wasn't telling you (or anyone) anything...I was suggesting that I find it bizarre that the signage is causing confusion because I doubt strongly that anyone is just showing up at Union looking for a train to the airport without doing a bit of research and that research would clearly associate "UP" with "trains to the airport"......while I acknowledge that it seems to be an issue, I still stand by my notion that it is bizarre that it is causing confusion.
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What if you didn't do your research though? What if you don't read english? Even if you do read english "UP Express" tells you nothing unless you know what UP stands for. Things would be so much simpler and user friendly if they just put a god damned airplane symbol somewhere.
 
P23 said:
What if you didn't do your research though? What if you don't read english? Even if you do read english "UP Express" tells you nothing unless you know what UP stands for. Things would be so much simpler and user friendly if they just put a god damned airplane symbol somewhere.
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Clearly it is causing confusion...and I don't get that and I don't want to drag this out (only posted this morning to "own" my previous suggestion)....but by "research" I mean someone saying "wonder if there is a train from Union to Pearson"..."wonder what it costs"...."wonder what the schedule is"...."where do you catch it".....in answering any of those questions you would be bombarded with the UP marketing schtick and I find it surprising (still) that it is causing any confusion at all. Apparently it is and I find this to be the most confusing thing of all.
 
Marketing will take time. If that's the way they want to do it, so be it. But it would be a speedier familiarization for oblivious commuters.
 
TOareaFan said:
Clearly it is causing confusion...and I don't get that and I don't want to drag this out (only posted this morning to "own" my previous suggestion)....but by "research" I mean someone saying "wonder if there is a train from Union to Pearson"..."wonder what it costs"...."wonder what the schedule is"...."where do you catch it".....in answering any of those questions you would be bombarded with the UP marketing schtick and I find it surprising (still) that it is causing any confusion at all. Apparently it is and I find this to be the most confusing thing of all.
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They're clearly taking their design clues from the Heathrow Express, which doesn't even mention Paddington until you're looking at the wayfinding maps. Here's the Terminal 5 sign:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heathrow_Terminal_5_express_sign.JPG

Last time I was through, there were mobile sales agents flagging you down to make certain you didn't get on something cheaper, like a bus or the Tube. There are also lots of other signs saying 'this way to central London' or some such.

The level of eye-blinking, d'oh travelers at any airport is off the charts. The number of people that haven't figured out that the regional rail at Roissy is the RER is epic. And, for non-Frenchmen, the fact that Charles de Gaulle airport is commonly known as Roissy adds to the confusion. It does not surprise me at all that there are tons of tourists that haven't researched how they're getting from the airport to their destination.

I do find it more surprising that someone who works in downtown Toronto wouldn't take the four seconds to ask where in Union the UP station is, if they plan on using it to get to the airport. You have to know that Union is a dawdler's nightmare at rush hour; if you don't know where you're going you're due for someone running into you as they sprint for the 5:04...
 
It's possible that there would be nobody around to ask, and Union station has so many entrances it's quite easy to approach the UPX terminal from somewhere other than the front door of the station. The York West Teamway (directly below the UPX terminal) has - or had - no signage for UPX at all, and there are no Metrolinx employees standing around to ask. There are often no other customers either during off-peak hours. I was there on Saturday afternoon and the teamway (and York concourse) were completely devoid of human life.

Many tourists and business travellers don't know that YYZ is called Pearson and certainly don't know that UP stands for Union Pearson. They should have just called it "Pearson Airport Express" and or something similarly descriptive and included the full name in all branding and signage.
 
TOareaFan said:
Clearly it is causing confusion...and I don't get that and I don't want to drag this out (only posted this morning to "own" my previous suggestion)....but by "research" I mean someone saying "wonder if there is a train from Union to Pearson"..."wonder what it costs"...."wonder what the schedule is"...."where do you catch it".....in answering any of those questions you would be bombarded with the UP marketing schtick and I find it surprising (still) that it is causing any confusion at all. Apparently it is and I find this to be the most confusing thing of all.
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Both "Union" and "Pearson" are names that a stranger might not associate with the destinations. Especially if you knew that Pearson is a Canadian historical figure for whom any number of places might be named. "Lincoln Express" in an American city has nothing to hint that it's going to the airport. Even "JFK Express" is a bit ambiguous - even in the Big Apple - unless the word "Airport" is added. Many American Cities have a Union Square, which may be nowhere near the train station, even if it's a Union Station.

We're not alone in messing up wayfinding. A sign reading "Leonardo DaVinci Express" doesn't tell me I'm heading to the Rome Airport (Being a tourist, I might make the connection to Fiumicino, but even that is also a cruise ship terminal). If you saw a sign saying "Sky Harbour Express", would you immediately think, "Ah....Phoenix Airport"? You might, given that there is no body of water in Phoenix. Charles De Gaulle Express? Paris probably has several places that might warrant an express something.

The point is, the word "Airport" solves the whole thing. Or a picture of an airplane. Metrolinx needs to get its head out of its high-priced, artsy boutique mentality and think like a real traveller.

- Paul
 
It could be an express bus to the Unilever Canada Head Office at 160 Bloor.

Or was that the express elevator at the CN tower?

I forget...

*blindly walks past "25 minutes to airport, every 15 mins" advertisements*
 
While there are definite improvements that can be made in wayfinding and other signage the name itself is hardly an issue.
Do you know what cities operate these services?

  1. KLIA Ekspres
  2. Flytoget
  3. N'EX
  4. Arlanda Express
  5. A'Rex Express
  6. Leonardo Express
  7. Suvarnabhumi Rail Link
  8. Aeroexpress
  9. Haruka
 
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