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I believe they may have "names," but the names have to be (or should have to be) unmistakable. What does "Berlin" mean? Kitchener? Which stop in Kitchener? Why do I want to get off at that stop? Street names are the consistent ones for wayfinding, unless it's a permanent, large-scale destination, like University of Waterloo, or Intermodal Transit Hub. If I can mistake it for anything, or can look at a system map and feel like I have no idea where I'd want to go or where or what a stop is, I won't use it.
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(11-26-2014, 10:56 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I believe they may have "names," but the names have to be (or should have to be) unmistakable. What does "Berlin" mean? Kitchener? Which stop in Kitchener? Why do I want to get off at that stop? Street names are the consistent ones for wayfinding, unless it's a permanent, large-scale destination, like University of Waterloo, or Intermodal Transit Hub. If I can mistake it for anything, or can look at a system map and feel like I have no idea where I'd want to go or where or what a stop is, I won't use it.
We talked about station names at Wonderful Waterloo a few times. I remember specifically a discussion about the stop at King and Pine- I am in favour of a name that includes the moniker "Midtown," but others said that it should reference the hospital as the main trip generator.
I agree with you that they need to be obviously meaningful- "Berlin" or even "Old Berlin," I think would be very cool, but it would not convey a lot of information to most riders, so isn't ideal.
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I continue to hope for "King Victoria" station rather than "Intermodal Transit Hub".
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Intermodal Transit sounds like something straight out of a bureaucrats desk. Hopefully we can come up with a better name than that. King Victoria has a nice ring to it.
Innovation district, Kaufman, Breithaupt, Google, School of Pharmacy, Kitchener City Hall, Tannery, 1 Victoria, old buildings, new buildings, old factories, renovated structures, modern architecture. Is there a word or set of words that can capture all that change+tradition in one name?
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(11-26-2014, 10:56 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Street names are the consistent ones for wayfinding
Taking a [very, very] long term view a problem with street names occurs when there's more than one station that crosses a particular street. Consider for example what happened when the Yonge St subway in Toronto was extended making a U-turn and crossed King, Queen, Dundas, College, Bloor et al streets for a second time.
Some day I hope to see a grid of LRT lines criss-crossing our region. At that point we'll have to have this discussion again.
N.B. I did say, "Taking a [very, very] long term view..."
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If ION never has a U shape, this could be less of a concern. I understand that when I am on King and hear a stop for Victoria, I will be getting off at King and Victoria, or the ION intersection of Victoria. I would not think this to be the same when traveling on a bus down Ira Needles and getting off at Victoria.
Some naming conventions don't need to incorporate things like "hospital" if we are willing to accept route maps on ION that have symbols to indicate important things at the stops, like an "H" symbol for GRH, VIA/GO for intermodal station.
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(11-26-2014, 11:08 AM)MidTowner Wrote: (11-26-2014, 10:56 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I believe they may have "names," but the names have to be (or should have to be) unmistakable. What does "Berlin" mean? Kitchener? Which stop in Kitchener? Why do I want to get off at that stop? Street names are the consistent ones for wayfinding, unless it's a permanent, large-scale destination, like University of Waterloo, or Intermodal Transit Hub. If I can mistake it for anything, or can look at a system map and feel like I have no idea where I'd want to go or where or what a stop is, I won't use it.
We talked about station names at Wonderful Waterloo a few times. I remember specifically a discussion about the stop at King and Pine- I am in favour of a name that includes the moniker "Midtown," but others said that it should reference the hospital as the main trip generator.
I agree with you that they need to be obviously meaningful- "Berlin" or even "Old Berlin," I think would be very cool, but it would not convey a lot of information to most riders, so isn't ideal.
Ya I agree with you, some of the stops should simply be the street that it's stopping at, or the location it's stopping at ("Market") but something like King and Pine should be "Midtown" or "Hospital" like you said.
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Berlin may not initially mean something to the uninformed, but it could become a local thing very quickly.
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Berlin Victoria Station would certainly catch people off guard.
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I want a train named Kaiser Wilhelm
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That would be awesome. I wonder if it would eventually be thrown in Victoria Lake?
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I would not hold my breath on that one, dunkalunk.
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What if we honour out outgoing mayors Brenda and Carl by naming trains after them?
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Why would anyone want to honour Mayor Brenda?
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Personally, I don't think named trains is an idea that would really resonate with enough people for it to be worth doing.
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