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TTC: Redesigning TTC Signage

They look good.

But I can't help but wonder why the TTC would omit implementing the international "Green Running Man" exit symbol on these signs. This would be the perfect time to do so, now that they are adopting a (somewhat) new signage standard.

Seems logical that the TTC should include this symbol in the new signage where appropriate, to avoid headaches in the future. The "Running Man" is being implemented into the National and Ontario Building Codes.

2t6nr_product_image_medium.jpg
(Source: www.officesafety.co.uk)

What I don't like about new signage though is that they eliminated the New York-style red box EXIT sign, and opted to make it a lot less prominent by simply wiriting it in line with the other text, eg. "Exit To Street". They should have at least written it "EXIT to Street".

Sheppard_run3_538.jpg
(Source: www.joeclark.org)

Just my two cents...

Related article: http://www.orhma.com/Portals/0/Insider/2012/Emergency%20Exit%20Signage.pdf
 

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Just made another trip to through B-Y Station. Spotted our new Rapid Transit map on the Line 1 Northbound platform. I don't know how I missed it. It's probably the most significant of the new signs. Hopefully we'll see them at the rest of our stations.

sQgBn3Ph.jpg
 
Line 3 will likely be repurposed for the DRL, which is more deserving of the line 3 moniker than sheppard. With any luck the DRL opens a year or two after the SRT closes.
 
junctionist said:
Sheppard should have become line 3. The RT came before Sheppard, but it'll soon be dismantled for an extension line 2.
Click to expand...

"soon" meaning in 10 years? (if we're lucky enough that the SRT actually lasts till then)

I can't wait to see our system map look much bigger when Eglinton opens as line 5.

I'd prefer they keep both the line names (Yonge) and the numbers as they have.
 
The DRL would probably be blue as well just like the current Line 3.

In the stations that have more than one exit at intersections I think it would be cool to have diagrams showing what's at the intersection at each exit.
 
Only one thing is that "Northbound" is very confusing to tourists and people who don't use the system often. They should have Northbound to Finch (Southbound to Union Towards Downsview) on every sign that says Northbound. It also helps to match the destination signs on the train.
 
I can appreciate the idea behind the new signage, but I seriously think that these are little better than what they replaced. One that just absolutely rubs me the wrong way is the 2 Westbound To Kipling / Next Station: Bay sign on the wall above the big "YONGE". It resembles something printed onto a piece of poster board by an amateur and slapped on the wall.

As for the plastering of the yellow and green circles with 1 and 2 all over the new signage, I worry that they can become rather ambiguous. The "Southbound 1" sign hanging over one of the Bloor Line platforms is a great example - it may be next to a stairwell advising passengers "this way towards southbound Line 1 trains" but it could just as easily be mistaken for "you are on a platform where the arriving trains will take you southbound on Line 1".

Lastly, I can't help but feel that the use of numbers instead of names wholly for the subway lines is a step backward for the TTC - which is why I'm happy to see the continuing inclusion of the terms "Yonge Line" and "Bloor Line". Using the names of the major streets that subways run under only helps to place them on a map for those who may otherwise be confused; integers, on the other hand, are arbitrary (admittedly they order the dates of completion of the various lines, but this is immaterial to someone who would be confused by our rather rudimentary rapid transit system in any case). A mixture of numbers and line names would, in my opinion, be more ideal. For an agency like the TTC, which has so very much to it in desperate need of improvement and modernization, implementing and holding up a signage method instead of addressing far greater issues is a very lousy bone to be thrown.
 
MrsNesbitt said:
...I'm happy to see the continuing inclusion of the terms "Yonge Line" and "Bloor Line". Using the names of the major streets that subways run under only helps to place them on a map...
Click to expand...

This is a bad idea.

This naming scheme is wholly inaccurate. The name "Yonge-University-Spadina" is a lie. It implies that it only runs under those roads. If we were to actually name subway after the roadways they run under, as you suggested, the Yonge-Univeristy-Spadina would actually be called the Yonge-University-Spadina-Cedarvale-Allen Subway. You could add Front and Bloor in there too if you wanted to be completely accurate. Once the Richmond Hill and Vaughan extensions opened, perhaps it would have to be renamed the Yonge-Univerisity-Spadina-Cedervale-Allen-Sheppard-Jane Subway. And of course, since subways don't have to follow the Toronto street grid, it is impossible to have these route names describe "diagonal" paths across the city.

The Relief Line will [eventually] have the same problem.

I think that nondescript letter/numbers combined with a name that isn't associated with a street (eg. Confederation Line) would be how I'd name the lines if I were building our subway network today. This is especially true for "spaghetti" lines that do not (or will not) follow any particular roadways, such as the YUS, BD and Relief Line.
 
I would agree that a strict adherence to street names for rapid transit lines won't work forever in Toronto, considering the problem of the existing "Spadina" component of the YUS, and the future TYSSD which would only lengthen the name, and the non-arterial-following DRL...

This being said, other than those issues, removing what street names already are assigned to subway lines (and are not misnomers) is, I maintain, a mistake. The line numbering does help for quick identification of lines (though I think using colours, like Green Line for BD, would be more consistent with the existing standard), but keeping formal line names is both more helpful than eliminating them, and adds a certain character and uniqueness to our rapid transit system.
 
I think YUS should be split in two. Otherwise it's just confusing which way a 1 Northbound train is going (is it going to Downsview or to Finch?)
 
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