Tuesday, April 27, 2010

What would Metro's Look Like?



From James:

I chose this design approach because I think it reflects Metro's effort level in most endeavours. The color scheme fits Metro's retro 70s look, and the message is simple and all encompassing. The hard-to-read font is WMATA bold. Alternate versions in white and green did not test well.


There's been a spate of news about subway etiquette posters. Here are three examples. The Tokyo posters are official, and have been featured on this blog before, but the Toronto and NYC posters were part of guerrilla campaigns by fed up riders.

What would DC etiquette posters look like? If anyone anyone wants to make some for WMATA, we'll post 'em here. Send them or post them on Flickr or somesuch and send a link. You can make them blank for anyone to fill in or fill them in yourselves.

Remember, signage quality standards in the Metro are pretty low, so break out your crayons.

We've got a long list of Riders we Hate and of course, the Rider Hall of Shame.

Other items:
Take a look at the coming 7000-series cars (GGW)

13 comments:

Alex B. said...

I had heard stories of folks clipping their nails on the metro, but I didn't think anyone was actually that self-centered. Until this weekend.

Riding on the Red Line in from Union Station towards Metro Center, I hear the distinctive 'clip clip' sounds of nail clippers in action, and sure enough, there's a guy just trimming his reaaally long nails right in the middle of the car.

Pamela said...

I once sat in front of a woman clipping a childs nails. I bet some landed on my wool coat. I was none too pleased.

Anonymous said...

Metro: Your Business is Our Business. So Mind Your Own Business.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Metro: Don't Disturb the Employees

Anonymous said...

Station Manager for Decretive Purposes Only. Do Not Attempt to Use of Customer Service.

Welcome to Metro: What the Hell Do You Want?

Metro: Fatality Free Since [date]

Anonymous said...

To our caucasian patrons: please do not attempt to request the assistance of any Metro employee. They have been trained not to respond with anything other than pure, unadulterated disgust.

Sincerely,
Metro


No, I'm not racist, but yes, I have seen this happen on more than one occasion.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Metro Where Services is Not!

Wanting to dodge that corporate meeting? Ride Metro - your delay transportation system!

First time riding Metro? Great! Metro welcomes new riders! (We always crave fresh meat!)

Anonymous said...

Attention Metro Riders!
For your safety please:

Do Not feed the operators.
Do Not approach operators.
Do Not look operators directly in the eye.

Management is not responsible for acts of incomprehensible aggression by operators when approached.

Michael said...

Dear Metro Rider: This is to inform you that by stepping on this bus/train/Metro Access van, you have waived your right to any legal action against Metro in the somewhat likely event that this will be your last ride anywhere on this earth. In the event you survive this ride, you have also waived the right to expect anything from our unionized employees. Need to use the bathroom? Need a working elevator for your wheelchair? Need a question answered? Don't bother with these trivialities. Just be happy that you're alive and leave our employees the F*** alone! We look forward to seeing you next time, sucker! Sincerely, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

William Neilson Jr. said...

I make it a point to ask someone to move their crap when they try to take a seat with a backpack or suitcase

Idiots....especially when it is crowded. Why do they think they have a right to do that? Not with me on the metro

homertuck said...

Re: the new 7000 series cars - they're the perfect example of Metro not listening to their riders. The proposed cars have the spring-loaded handles for people to grab onto, but if you ever see those handles on current metro cars NO ONE uses them, even when trains are packed. Why? Because they're extremely uncomfortable to hold on to. They hurt your hands. But Metro closes doors on listening to their customers, so I guess it's not surprising. Idiots.

Anonymous said...

I agree homertuck, metro just doesn't use any common sense when it comes to car design. Probably because so few of the managers ride it regularly at rush hour.
The best things for people to hold onto are the poles that run from the backs of seats to the ceiling, because they comfortable for tall people and short people alike, and because there is room for several people to hold onto the same pole. Anyone who has taken a trip at rush hour realizes this. Yet for some reason they leave that pole off the seats at the very center of the car, which is exactly where they supposedly want to encourage people to stand. They put the spring-loaded handles near the vertical posts, and nobody uses them because they are uncomfortable.
Yet they don't put the spring-loaded handles where they might actually be somewhat useful, i.e., near the doors, where there is nothing else to hold onto and where the spring-loaded handles might be better than nothing, at least for those who can reach them.
Metro's car design always seems to be trying to address yesterday's problems. For a long time, they didn't provide much for standees to hold onto because the y maintained clung to the idea that it was a suburban railroad and nearly everyone would get a seat. Then they decided the problem was people blocking the doors, so the resdesigned the cars to take away all the screens and poles bear the doors. But by the time those cars got into production, that wasn't the issue any more - the issue is that they have people standing everywhere, because they just don't have enough space at rush hour. At rush hour, moving away from the doors isn't always an option, because the center of the train is probably already full.

Anonymous said...

Actually some of us do not use them as we cannot reach them to use. They are pushed up away (logically to avoid crashing one's brains out on em) so they are way way up there. Metro, indeed, did not listen when some of us told them that would happen. Not everyone is 5'11".

Post a Comment

 
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Site Meter