ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Drake]

Haven't been up to the top of the parking garage in a bit.  It's really fun to bike up (and down!) the ramps.  

This forest of poles lining the route isn't progress imho.

[BuildingScout]

unique (ugly/bad) tram icon, instead of using a universally-accepted standard? If everyone did this, signs would loose all meaning. Chaos.

Is there a universal tram icon? I don't seem to find one on google.

[Canard]

[Drake]

Cute umlaut.

[BuildingScout]

What standard set that icon belongs to? A simple search for tram icon on google reports that one and many others with no indication that the one you sent is the standard one.

[Canard]

I'm not sure, BuildingScout! But it's certainly the one I see the most in my travels. It's the most used one.

So don't you think it kind of makes sense to use an icon that is at least used a few other places - and not just make up yet another new thing, adding confusion?

Toronto actually uses 2 different ones; they have a CLRV-Esque icon on their stop poles, and at Leslie Barns they made a cute FLEXITY Outlook variant.

But the difference here is that those icons look good. This one looks like crap. Am I the only one here with even a glimmer of design sense that can see just how awful the one we have here looks?

[BuildingScout]

I agree that the current one looks like crap. In fact it reminds me more of a funicular than a tram.

I was surprised to see that there does not seem to be a standard ISO front view of a tram. I went to google fully expecting to find a definitive icon, such as it is the case for road signs, but no such luck.

[taylortbb]

What standard set that icon belongs to? A simple search for tram icon on google reports that one and many others with no indication that the one you sent is the standard one.

I'm not sure, BuildingScout! But it's certainly the one I see the most in my travels. It's the most used one.

That icon is from the AIGA symbol set, http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/. It was created back in the 70s jointly with the US department of transportation to create a global standard set of icons for airports and other transportation hubs. If you look through the set it's definitely the standard you'll see at any airport/transit hub these days.

[BuildingScout]

What standard set that icon belongs to? A simple search for tram icon on google reports that one and many others with no indication that the one you sent is the standard one.

I'm not sure, BuildingScout! But it's certainly the one I see the most in my travels. It's the most used one.

That icon is from the AIGA symbol set, http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/. It was created back in the 70s jointly with the US department of transportation to create a global standard set of icons for airports and other transportation hubs. If you look through the set it's definitely the standard you'll see at any airport/transit hub these days.

But wait, that icon is for a train with the two air horns at the top, not a tram. Anyways, seems this one would be at least a bit more standard that the one chosen by the city.

[Canard]

Anyways, seems this one would be at least a bit more standard that the one chosen by the city.

Yeah - that was mostly what I was trying to get at. If you're going to go non-standard, at least make it try to look good or applicable to what's actually here! This is what Toronto's done with their streetcar stops:



Here are some unique ones I spotted on my travels in Japan:

   

   

   

   

The one for Linimo is cute because it actually looks just like the front of the trains (it's a Maglev).  Same with the Portliner; it's an AGT system on tires that rides in a concrete trough.

[Canard]

Looks like paving at Queen/Duke may happen this mornings/afternoon! Paving equipment is staged up, ready to rock. Guys are out wiring up the lights right now.

They're also pulling some of the stored rail segments blocking Freemont onto King, down Allen. Cool process to watch! A couple tried to cut right through the work zone and I warned them to walk around. She complained "Why are they working on a weekend when we're supposed to be jogging?!"

Some people....

[ijmorlan]

Looks like paving at Queen/Duke may happen this mornings/afternoon! Paving equipment is staged up, ready to rock. Guys are out wiring up the lights right now.

They're also pulling some of the stored rail segments blocking Freemont onto King, down Allen. Cool process to watch! A couple tried to cut right through the work zone and I warned them to walk around. She complained "Why are they working on a weekend when we're supposed to be jogging?!"

Some people....

Awesome! Truly the tapestry of humanity is a highly variable weave! I might have to get down there to watch the process — it’s only a couple of blocks from where I live.

[Canard]

In case you don't make it down, here's what's going on:

[eizenstriet]

Don't confuse me!

That image is definitely one of the televisions we had when I was a kid. From top to bottom: the "rabbit ears" antennae; the Electrohome logo spot; the tiny black-and-white cathode ray screen; the channel-change and fine-tuning knobs; the built-in stand.

If you put that on the LRT route, I'm going to take a quick look, be thinking "Wow, they have community TV at this corner", put on my blinker, and turn right in front of the train.

More thought is need for an unambiguous multi-generational logo.

[DHLawrence]

Anyways, seems this one would be at least a bit more standard that the one chosen by the city.

Yeah - that was mostly what I was trying to get at.  If you're going to go non-standard, at least make it try to look good or applicable to what's actually here!  This is what Toronto's done with their streetcar stops:

Or go retro and use the PCC design.