Unsuck DC Metro: New Signs, More Waste

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

New Signs, More Waste

From Melanie:

Why is Metro putting up new, fancy signs that have a shelf life of less than a year?

I can understand that if Metro put up signs with Silver Line information now, it could be confusing, but why don't they just wait a few more months to put them up instead of creating these interim signs? We coped fine without them. Another few months won't make a difference.

I'm guessing that since this is Metro, all new signs will be put up when the Silver Line opens.

The waste, or more likely stupidity, at Metro is amazing. It's harder and harder to resist the notion that Metro is a jobs program and then a transit system.

This sign is at Ballston, but there are much more intricate signs in the city showing the Blue Line connections through Rosslyn, for example.They can't be cheap.

Comments (36)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

+7 Vote up Vote down

aefaewaf · 630 weeks ago

Money doesn't grow on trees..oh wait, since there's no oversight, it does for Metro.

+9 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 630 weeks ago

I don't think these really cost them very much since they have their own print shop in-house. Frankly, there are a lot of signs I've been happy to see replaced since they were covered in brake dust and pepsi clear from the 80s and 90s.

2 replies · active 630 weeks ago

+6 Vote up Vote down

karah 81p · 630 weeks ago

Multi-colour job, materials, limited run for each and at least 2 different signs per each affected station (more for transfer stops of course). Not cheep since you need to do a setup for each one but it does save you SOME money by doing it in house.

Of course, the big question is why do it at all after years when they will just get thrown away in a matter of months?

+11 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 630 weeks ago

They could sell them to rail enthusiasts for a profit

+7 Vote up Vote down

Concerned · 630 weeks ago

Dont offend the sign union!

+20 Vote up Vote down

@THEjoelowry · 630 weeks ago

Even you unsuck, must see the irony in some riders one day slamming Metro for having inaccurate signage and the next slamming them because they made new (and accurate) signs, albeit temporary. Let's not play it both ways. Kudos to Metro for making accurate signage!

2 replies · active 630 weeks ago

+6 Vote up Vote down

Anony · 630 weeks ago

But they could have waited for the silver line signs.

+4 Vote up Vote down

guest · 630 weeks ago

Or they could just never replace signs...
I for one would rather they "waste" money in this fashion that actually provides something people can use now rather than things which are really unnecessary. Stop complaining at every turn. You either want to improve things or have them stagnate.

0 Vote up Vote down

rider · 630 weeks ago

I'm with Melanie on this. Waste! They're not replacement signs, they're NEW. Why not wait til the Silver Line is up and running...Metro idiots.

1 reply · active 630 weeks ago

+7 Vote up Vote down

anon · 630 weeks ago

Probably because they ordered them in 1987 and they've just now come back from the print shop.

+11 Vote up Vote down

JDC · 630 weeks ago

I disagree. Metro needs good signs for everyone, summer tourists especially, and the Silver Line will not be running until late 2013 (ha!). Putting these up now is a good thing, not a negative.

+7 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 630 weeks ago

Even with correct signage, we're still going to get that influx of tourists in a few months, who will stand there, looking RIGHT AT THE SIGN, and holler, where's this station? Where's that station? Drives me insane. I don't think any new or better signs, will help those folks.

May the universe help us....

12 replies · active 630 weeks ago

+8 Vote up Vote down

karah 81p · 630 weeks ago

I really wish DC tourists would do what I do as a matter-of-course in a strange city and emulate what the people there are doing. Worry about the details later. For example, at a train stop all I need to know before boarding is what direction train do I want (if it is morning usually the busier one is inbound anyway) .... I can find my stop on their map at my leisure once I am on it. Looking at the hotel info before leaving helps too so you can concentrate on watching out for things like 'do not stand on the left on the escalator'.

+12 Vote up Vote down

Another Nick · 630 weeks ago

Being a veteran of subways, you drop me into a strange place and I'll figure it out. They're all basically the same. But...last weekend I took the parents to NYC and proceeded to have to figure out how to herd them around while they questioned me for every "don't stop at the bottom of the stairs" sort of every day subway etiquette that you pick up. They just didn't seem to care about standing out, while I take a Do as the Romans Do attitude as a courtesy to citizens of another city that gets treated like an enormous amusement park.

+6 Vote up Vote down

karah 81p · 630 weeks ago

Exactly. While most of the big things are the same they all have their nuances though. I just pay attention to everyone else and follow a do-as-they-do philosophy. Even if the locals seem to be doing something counter-intuitive I will figure there is probably a good reason for it. Not hold up everyone by being the sole person who is standing around like a hick in the big city for the first time.

+11 Vote up Vote down

Jin · 630 weeks ago

They can also help by doing their touristy thing later in the day (after morning hour, for example). I get sometimes it's unavoidable (say, going to Union Station to get a morning train), but those monuments will be there at 10, so why leave to see them at 8:30?

+6 Vote up Vote down

6 stops · 630 weeks ago

As someone who works near L'Enfant, I agree. Rush hour is not the time for gawking tourists.

+2 Vote up Vote down

dddddda · 630 weeks ago

Not only will those monuments be there at 10, but the museums will actually be *open.*

Sleep in, have a nice breakfast...you're on VACATION.

+8 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 630 weeks ago

I agree with you, wholeheartedly. My Dad raised me with the philosophy of, "Don't just stand there with your face hanging out." Get it together. I've been a tourist in many places and I just do my reading before I go, and emulate the locals. If I get lost, I pull aside OUT OF THE WAY, re-check a map, or go ask a station manager.

These signs won't help us come spring/summer. Good golly, where's the Xanax.....

+2 Vote up Vote down

dddddda · 630 weeks ago

I've given other tourists directions when I'm on vacation. I look like I know where I'm going (because I do), and they're generally surprised when I pull out a map to answer their question. The kicker is I can usually give them correct directions! I typically stay in hotels with a concierge, so that's my first stop, but even cheaper hotels should be able to hook you up with a map and basic directions at the front desk.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Metro Ryder · 630 weeks ago

Haha! I get asked for directions when I'm on vacation too because I look like I know where I'm going. But I have a shit sense of direction and get lost all the time. I'm just good at looking like I know where I'm going so I don't look like an easy mark.

-3 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 630 weeks ago

I get that alot, here and when I travel. The difference is, when I'm here, and if a tourist is really rude about asking, like just trying to physically stop me, no please or excuse me, I send them the wrong way. On purpose. And then giggle when they get all lost. I figure that's fine if you want to ask, but be nice. If not, then I'm under zero obligation to be nice to you.

0 Vote up Vote down

@VeggieTart · 630 weeks ago

I've been to NYC enough that I can navigate the subway system fairly well with my pocket map and don't do so bad getting around. And just about every time I visit, I get asked for directions.

+7 Vote up Vote down

JimS · 630 weeks ago

A long time ago I read an interview with the guy who designed the New York subway maps/signage. Can't recall his name. I'm paraphrasing from memory, but he said you have to design the maps/signage for three types of users. There are folks who will walk up to someone standing under a large sign with an arrow pointing the way to the A train, who ask them how to find the A train. There are folks who somewhat know the system and just need reassurance they're headed the right way. And there are folks who are so familiar with the system they never need to look at the signs, you could blindfold them and they'd still be able to navigate the system.

+13 Vote up Vote down

@savemetro · 630 weeks ago

Being a gambling man ( I ride Metro Everyday) it would be safe to say that the Silver Line will be at least 6 months delayed, probably longer. So those signs should have a good year shelf life. Of course, dry erase boards would be a better investment.

1 reply · active 630 weeks ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

@VeggieTart · 630 weeks ago

Problem with dry erase boards is you KNOW the little miscreants who ride Metro (bratty teens) would find a way to screw them up.

+3 Vote up Vote down

L.R. · 630 weeks ago

That sign is almost reasonable. Have you all seen the ones at Union Station? They just say Union Station, with the little "RL" Red Line insignia, and the direction of the train (Shady Grove or Glenmont). No map. No point.

1 reply · active 630 weeks ago

+3 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 630 weeks ago

Yeah, the Union Station ones are terrible. They don't even have the arrows [Amtrak MARC VRE -->] and [^ Union Station Shops] like the old ones did. They're gigantic, but there's very little information on them.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Rich · 630 weeks ago

I agree with the author. I bet there's one of these signs at Dunn-Loring on the outbound track. Giant 10-foot chunk of metal for 2 stations.

Perhaps when SV opens, they'll just paste over the lettering with new data, sort of like what they've done on the platform pylons for a while.

+3 Vote up Vote down

hrh king friday 13 · 630 weeks ago

So that's what they mean by "track work."

+8 Vote up Vote down

metro employee · 630 weeks ago

First off I'm a metro employee. Second, I have common sense. They just put new signs on the underground stations on the orange line east if lefant plaza(3 weeks ago). They added the silver line markings and covered them in tape. When the silver line opens all the have to do is walk down the tunnel and take the tape off.

2 replies · active 630 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

not a metro employee · 630 weeks ago

You assume someone will actually do their job and take the tape off. LOL

0 Vote up Vote down

mike · 630 weeks ago

Thanks, metro employee, that is exactly what I remember Metro doing before other system expansions - signs with the new stations on them would be installed in advance, with the new stations covered in tape. (If you looked closely, you could see the indentations of the new station names.)
It makes perfect sense - you want the signs to be accurate the first day the new line opens, but there is no way you could install all the signs overnight. Removing tape, on the other hand, can be done quickly.