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| Re: WMATA: Comparing the first map to the latest (1100437) | |||
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Re: WMATA: Comparing the first map to the latest |
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Posted by Kew Gardens Teleport on Fri Sep 9 19:40:19 2011, in response to Re: WMATA: Comparing the first map to the latest, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Fri Sep 9 10:21:09 2011. The idea of calling the line to IAD a spur of the Orange Line. This "spur" is 23 miles long and one of its major destinations (the airport) is way beyond the split at East Falls Church. Considering the frequency with which the topic of the A train split before getting to JFK comes up on this board and all the signs at A train stations in New York telling people not to get on a Lefferts Boulevard train, why does anyone think that sort of problem won't come up in DC, especially when tourists just get told to get on an Orange Line train?All trains that operate on the trunk between Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory should be called Orange Line trains. Triple lines are incredibly ugly and clutter the central area of the map where the most clarity is needed. Passengers on a branch at one end of the line don't need to know which of the branches at the other end of the line the train has come from, and that system is already breaking down with some trains going from the Vienna Branch to the Largo Branch. New York is a poor example, as the A train is just one service on the blue 8th Avenue Line. There is a specific problem there with at least three variations on the same service being given the same letter, whilst people expect the letters and numbers to distinguish branches. A better example would be London: the Piccadilly Line branches at Acton Town, with some trains continuing to Heathrow Airport, whilst others continue to Rayner's Lane or Uxbridge. As it's obvious that the Piccadilly Line branches, people will check the destination of the train to ensure they end up on the right branch; no-one is confuse, as the destinations are used to differentiate between the services, just as letters and numbers are used on most lines in New York. I actually think the London system is the better one, as the letters are susceptible to change with branch pairings at either end of a line, whilst the line names and termini are relatively constant. Finally, David Alpert needs to realize that most of the ideas from his map contest didn't carry over to the new map. In fact, many of the maps were downright awful and in some cases practically useless. That I can agree with. |
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